Paul Manafort's daughter changes her last name to avoid 'public perception'
The daughter of President Donald Trump's disgraced campaign chairman is changing her surname to separate herself from its "public perception".
His daughter Jessica Manafort has now filed paperwork in a New York court to legally change her last name, the New York Post reported.
Ms Manafort, an independent filmmaker, told the newspaper she was seeking the change “to separate myself and my work from a public perception that has nothing to do with the person that I am.”
Her father's extravagant lifestyle, funded by undeclared income from Ukrainian oligarchs, was described in great detail on US media during his three-week trial.
Following his conviction, Mr Trump expressed his sympathies for Manafort, describing the trial as a "witch hunt", adding "he happens to be a very good person, and I think it’s very sad what they’ve done to Paul Manafort”.
Her father is expected to face a lengthy jail term when sentenced and faces a second trial on additional charges of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent later this month.
Ms Manafort is replacing her famous surname with Bond, her mother's maiden name, saying she it “more closely suits [her] profession”.
“I would like my new name to be Jessica Anne Bond, in place of my present name,” the 36-year-old stated in the court filing.
Ms Manafort has already begun using her new surname unofficially and was listed in the credits of her latest film, Rosy, under Jess Bond.
She has previously spoken of the difficulties of being associated with the Manafort name.
Manafort, 69, has worked on the presidential campaigns of three Republican presidents, while Ms Manafort has described herself as a "passionate liberal".
“I am a passionate liberal and a registered Democrat and this has been difficult for me. Although I am ‘the daughter of,’ I am very much my own person and hopefully people can realise that,” she told the Los Angeles Times in July.
