Trump: Not concerned about Manafort cooperation

WASHINGTON » President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s not concerned about what his former campaign chairman is telling investigators in the Russia probe.

Trump told reporters at the White House that if Paul Manafort tells the truth to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team then he doesn’t see a problem. Trump also batted away a question about whether he was considering a pardon for Manafort.

“I don’t want to talk about it now,” the president said.

Trump’s comments come just days after Manafort ended his nearly yearlong fight against Mueller. Manafort pleaded guilty to two felony charges related to his unregistered Ukrainian lobbying and millions of dollars he laundered through offshore accounts. The plea headed off a second trial for Manafort less than a month after he was convicted on eight other counts of filing false tax returns, failing to report foreign bank accounts and bank fraud.

The plea deal provided Mueller with a key cooperator in Manafort, who led the Trump campaign for several crucial months and has extensive knowledge of powerful Russian and Ukrainian businessmen heavily involved in their country’s politics.

Manafort also will be debriefed by investigators about his time on the campaign as Mueller continues to investigate Russian election interference and any possible coordination with Trump associates.

Those questions will almost certainly include Manafort’s account of a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer that was attended by Donald Trump Jr. and Trump sonin-law, Jared Kushner. The meeting has drawn scrutiny because it was described to Trump Jr. in emails as part of a Russian government effort to help the campaign.