President Trump praised his former campaign manager Paul Manafort on Wednesday, saying he was unconcerned about what Manafort may tell federal prosecutors as part of a plea deal.
“No, I’m not. I’m not because if he’s honest and he is, I think he’s going to tell — as long as he tells the truth, it’s 100 percent,” Trump said on the South Lawn of the White House.
Manafort pleaded guilty to foreign lobbying and witness tampering crimes Friday after being convicted of tax and bank fraud last month. In pleading guilty, he agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation.
“He was with Ronald Reagan. He was with Bob Dole. He was with [John] McCain. He was with many, many people. That’s what he did. Paul Manafort was with me for a short period of time. He did a good job,” Trump said.
“I was, you know, very happy with the job he did,” Trump added, as he prepared to depart for a trip to North Carolina to view the damage caused by Hurricane Florence.
“And I will tell you this, I believe that he will tell the truth. And if he tells the truth, no problem,” Trump said.
Manafort’s initial decision to stand trial, rather than plead guilty, was widely seen as a play for a presidential pardon, though Trump would not discuss the possibility Wednesday.
“I don’t want to talk about it now,” he said.
The remarks, however, indicate Trump has not soured on Manafort, who he previously described as “brave” for standing trial after his conviction. By contrast, Trump has aggressively denounced his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign finance charges last month.
The White House has described Manafort’s conviction and plea deal as irrelevant to his work on the 2016 campaign. Most of the charges are directly related to his work on behalf of pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, rather than associated with possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia, the original focus of Mueller’s probe.
