"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 wrote on Twitter.
The US president went on to note if he was informed about the allegations against Manafort, he would not have hired him in the first place.
….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) 3 июня 2018 г.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 3 июня 2018 г.
READ MORE: Trump: Mueller's Team Is 'Meddling' in Midterm Elections
In April, Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a court document that showed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had given him broad authority to investigate Manafort for a variety of potential crimes.
On May 25, A US judge rejected Manafort’s request to dismiss false statement charges from the indictment in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Manafort has reportedly been investigated by the FBI since 2014, even before the 2016 presidential campaign. The former campaign manager has been charged with conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, acting as an unregistered foreign agent and making false statements — all in relation to payments he received for work done the former government of Ukraine, including for the country’s ex-President Viktor Yanukovych.
READ MORE: The Tweets Go On: Trump Lashes Out at '13 Angry Democrats' in Mueller Probe
Russian officials have repeatedly denied allegations of interference, calling the accusations groundless and absurd. Trump has also denied any collusion with the Kremlin and has called Mueller's investigation a witch hunt.
