The street chat is that Mannafort is true and true Washington DC Establishment if there ever was such a thing. He worked for a lot of interests. The rumor was that he ingratiated himself into the campaign to get Lewandowski out, convince Trump he was as tough as The Donald, while silently sabotaging the campaign with suggestions that Trump be more genteel, more restrained, etc. In short, Mannafort fed the narrative that the GOP Elites & Democrats feasted upon almost the minute the shell game started. Trump - clearly nobody’s fool - used Mannafort to lock up the nomination. Then told him he was fired after his utility ran out. And Trump probably suspected Mannafort was basically undermining him all along, which is exactly what the elites wanted.
I’ll buy