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President Donald Trump responded to a judge’s ruling on Friday to jail his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, calling that ruling a “tough sentence” and suggesting the order to revoke Manafort’s bail was unfair.
In a tweet on Friday afternoon, Trump brought up Manafort’s extensive work in politics and argued that the court’s decision to cancel his house arrest was inappropriate considering what he sees as more serious crimes of Hillary Clinton and former FBI Director James Comey that weren’t prosecuted.
“Didn’t know Manafort was the head of the Mob,” Trump wrote, sarcastically. “What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others?”
Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns. Didn’t know Manafort was the head of the Mob. What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15,2018
While speaking to reporters earlier on Friday, Trump tried to distance himself from Manafort while making it clear that he believes the charges are unfair.
“Manafort worked for me for a very short period of time,” Trump told the press on the front lawn of the White House. “I feel badly for some people because they’ve gone back 12 years to find things about somebody. And I don’t think it’s right.”
Manafort was sent to prison over charges that he tried to tamper with witnesses ahead of his trial for bank fraud and money laundering. The charges were initially brought by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
Aaron Credeur is a News Fellow at IJR. He has written on a variety of national topics, including the 2016 presidential election, the state of liberal… more
