President Trump declined to say whether he would consider pardoning his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, but hinted he might be open to a pardon by saying he respects the decades of work Manafort has done for the Republican Party.
“I have great respect for what he’s done …,” Trump said in a Fox News interview that aired Thursday. “He worked for Ronald Reagan for years. He worked for Bob Dole. I guess his firm worked for McCain. He worked for many, many people many, many years.”
[Also read: Trump says ‘Paul Manafort’s a good man’ after partial guilty verdict in Virginia]
Trump seemed to open the door further by saying Manafort was convicted this week for doing things that are common among politicos.
“I would say what he did, some of the charges they threw against him, every consultant, every lobbyist in Washington probably does,” Trump said.
He also noted that the Justice Department has so far ignored other possible crimes, such as apparent efforts by Justice Department officials to work against his campaign.
“When you look at the corruption on the other side, and they refuse to look at anything,” Trump said. “When you don’t look at [Peter] Strzok, when he said basically we’re going to take down a president…”
Manafort was convicted on eight counts this week related to tax fraud and other activities that happened before he joined Trump’s campaign. Trump made a point of noting that Manafort’s legal troubles so far have nothing to do with him.
“I didn’t know Manafort well. He wasn’t with the campaign long,” Trump said. “They got him on things totally unrelated to the campaign.”
[Opinion: Here’s why Trump will probably pardon Paul Manafort one year from now]
