After Paul Manafort indictment, Trump points finger at Hillary Clinton
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Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, has been a key figure in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
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WASHINGTON — President Trump reacted to the indictment of his former campaign chairman Monday by turning attention to his former political rival, Hillary Clinton.
“Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign,” Trump said in a tweet. “But why aren’t Crooked Hillary the Dems the focus?????”
“Also,” he continued. “There is NO COLLUSION!”Â
Manafort’s indictment on federal conspiracy charges largely focus on his activities working for the Ukrainian government from 2006 through 2015. Special counsel Robert Mueller unsealed a 12-count indictment Monday alleging conspiracy, money laundering, failing to register as foreign agents, and making false statements to investigators.
More: Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates charged with conspiracy, money laundering
More: Paul Manafort and Rick Gates: A timeline of links between Trump’s campaign and Russia
The indictment, which also charges Manafort associate Rick Gates, makes no mention of the Trump campaign or even of Trump himself. Mueller, who was appointed special counsel in May, has a wide-ranging mandate to investigate “any links or coordination between the Russian government and the campaign of President Donald Trump,” but also other matters that arise from that investigation, including obstruction of justice.
More: Paul Manafort indictment: Read the full document
Trump spent the weekend on Twitter, after news that charges could be made public as soon as Monday, calling the investigation a “witch hunt” and advancing the case for charges against his former rival, focusing on her role in the Obama administration’s sale of Uranium to Russia and a lawyer for her campaign who funded a “dossier” of anti-Trump allegations.
He also suggested that the timing of the indictment was an effort to derail his proposal for tax reform.
Long before Manafort’s indictment, Trump began to diminish his role in the 2016 presidential campaign.
More: Who is Paul Manafort? More about Trump’s indicted former campaign chairman
“I know Mr. Manafort. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time, but I know him,” Trump said in August after the FBI raided Manafort’s home. “He was with the campaign, as you know, for a very short period of time — relatively short period of time. But I’ve always known him to be a good man.”
More: Trump campaign sends out fundraising email after Paul Manafort indictment
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