President Trump on Thursday defended his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, calling him a “decent man” and expressing surprise at the FBI’s raid of his home last month.
“I’ve always found Paul Manafort to be a very decent man,” Trump told reporters in Bedminster, N.J., according to a pool report. “He’s like a lot of other people, probably makes consultant fees from all over the place, who knows, I don’t know, but I thought it was pretty tough stuff to wake him up, perhaps his family was there. I think that’s pretty tough stuff.”
Manafort has become a central figure in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which along with a number of congressional panels, is looking into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
News outlets on Wednesday reported the FBI raided Manafort’s Alexandria, Va., home July 26 after obtaining a search warrant for tax documents and foreign banking records, one day after Manafort testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“I thought it was a very, very strong signal, or whatever,” Trump said Thursday of the raid. “I know Mr. Manafort. Haven’t spoken to him for a long time, but I know him. They do that very seldom, so I was surprised to see it. I was very, very surprised to see it. Whether or not it was appropriate you’d have to ask them [the investigators].”
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Mueller and his investigators have issued subpoenas to global banks for records of transactions and account information involving Manafort.
Manafort resigned as Trump’s campaign manager last August while concerns mounted over his past work for a pro-Russian party in Ukraine.
