Lewandowski’s enemies around the campaign, after months of circulating rumors about his personal life, had a hand in planting a suggestive item about his emotional argument with a campaign staffer in a New York tabloid, according a person with direct knowledge of how the item came to be. And Lewandowski’s rivals also circulated a news report about him shopping a book, in an effort to raise questions about his commitment to Trump’s campaign, according to people familiar with the incident. (Lewandowski denied the report.)

Lewandowski’s supporters, in turn, have urged Trump and his representatives to examine Manafort’s personal life, as well as the lobbying done by Manafort and his associates, according to people on both sides of the Lewandowski-Manafort rift…

Supporters and opponents of Lewandowski say he and his allies have called Trump’s attention to articles chronicling lobbying work done by Manafort or his campaign associates for a gambling company, as well as politically problematic foreign clients, including Saudi Arabia, multiple pro-Russian figures and a group accused of being a front for Pakistani intelligence.

An ally of Manafort’s said Lewandowski “takes all the bad news up to Trump — ‘Paul represented this person, Paul represented that person.’”