President Trump questioned why the Justice Department and the FBI didn’t tell him about their investigation into his former chairman, Paul Manafort, and declared he would not have hired him had he known about the inquiry.
“As only one of two people left who could become President, why wouldn’t the FBI or Department of ‘Justice’ have told me that they were secretly investigating Paul Manafort (on charges that were 10 years old and had been previously dropped) during my campaign? Should have told me!” Trump tweeted early Sunday morning.
As only one of two people left who could become President, why wouldn’t the FBI or Department of “Justice” have told me that they were secretly investigating Paul Manafort (on charges that were 10 years old and had been previously dropped) during my campaign? Should have told me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2018
Manafort, 69, was under criminal investigation by the FBI since at least 2014 because of business dealings he made while lobbying former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. However, the investigation never came to full fruition.
He was also under investigation by the FBI during its probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Manafort has since been indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller — who took over the Russia investigation in May 2017 — in both Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
In Washington, he has been charged with money laundering and lying about his lobbing work, and in Virignia, he has been charged with laundering money, bank, and tax fraud.
Manafort has pleaded not guilty in both cases, and in Virginia is fighting the ability of Mueller to bring those charges since they occurred before he joined the Trump campaign.
In a follow-up tweet Sunday, Trump said that he would not have hired Manafort if he knew he was under investigation.
“….Paul Manafort came into the campaign very late and was with us for a short period of time (he represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole & many others over the years), but we should have been told that Comey and the boys were doing a number on him, and he wouldn’t have been hired!” the president said.
….Paul Manafort came into the campaign very late and was with us for a short period of time (he represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole & many others over the years), but we should have been told that Comey and the boys were doing a number on him, and he wouldn’t have been hired!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2018
Manafort joined Trump’s campaign in March 2016, and then became campaign manager in June 2016 after the firing of Corey Lewandowski.
That same month, Manafort took part in the Trump Tower meeting with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya and others, before which Donald Trump Jr. had been told he could obtain damaging information on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign in August 2017 after Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Coneway took on senior leadership roles.
