Trump: I Should Have Been Told ‘Comey And The Boys’ Were Probing Manafort

on May 23, 2018 in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 23: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse after a hearing on May23, 2018 in Washington, DC. Manafort was indicted last year by a federal gra... WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 23: Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse after a hearing on May23, 2018 in Washington, DC. Manafort was indicted last year by a federal grand jury and has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him including, conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, and being an unregistered agent of a foreign principal. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Donald Trump on Sunday lashed out at the Justice Department for not warning him that his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was the subject of investigation by “Comey and the boys.” 

The tweets recalled a similar missive from the President late last month, when he wondered aloud, “why didn’t the crooked highest levels of the FBI or ‘Justice’ contact me to tell me of the phony Russia problem?”

In fact, as CNN pointed out, Trump was reportedly warned in August 2016 that foreign actors would attempt to infiltrate his campaign.

The Washington Post reported in April that Manafort had been interviewed twice by the FBI while working as a consultant for the pro-Russian Ukrainian ruler Viktor Yanukovych’s political party, in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Trump’s attempt to minimize Manafort’s role echoes Sean Spicer’s statement in March of last year: the one-time campaign chairman “played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time,” Spicer said.

In reality, Manafort joined the campaign in March 2016 in order to oversee Trump’s Republican National Convention strategy, but his role quickly grew. In May, he was named campaign chairman. Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, after his firing in June, said that Manafort “has been in operational control of the campaign since April 7.”

Manafort has pleaded not guilty to several charges spread across two federal indictments, one each in Washington, D.C. and Virginia. But recent legal filings indicate more charges may be on the way.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. You can almost feel the cycle of denial-panic-rage-blame-casting-denial he’s experiencing.

  2. –headdesk–

  3. Mm, no? You don’t tell Manafort, the target of the investigation, and you don’t tell anybody who would likely tell him. It’s not like you were president.

  4. “but we should have been told that Comey and the boys were doing a number on him” erm, no. No you shouldnt have been, you ham handed idiot. What part of secret investigation are you willfully ignoring this time?

  5. you left out peeing :wink:

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

172 more replies

Participants

Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for srfromgr Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for juliagrey Avatar for inversion Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for danny Avatar for borisjimbo Avatar for lastroth Avatar for swift2001 Avatar for serendipitoussomnambulist Avatar for katwillow Avatar for darrtown Avatar for jinnj Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for khyber900 Avatar for brian512 Avatar for cub_calloway Avatar for erik_t Avatar for joce_m Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for c_stedman Avatar for captain_america

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: