CHARLESTON, West Virginia - President Donald Trump tried to distance himself from his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort's conviction on Tuesday on bank and tax fraud charges, saying it did not involve him.
"I feel very badly for Paul Manafort," Trump said as he arrived in West Virginia for a rally on Tuesday night. "It does not involve me," he said.
"It has nothing to do with Russian collusion, we continue the witch hunt," Trump said.
A jury found Manafort guilty of two of nine bank fraud charges, all five tax fraud charges he faced and one of four charges of failing to disclose foreign bank accounts.
His trial is the first stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia's role in the 2016 US election. The charges against Manafort largely predate his work on President Donald Trump's successful campaign.
Prosecutors accused Manafort, a 69-year-old veteran Republican operative, of hiding from US tax authorities $16 million he earned as a political consultant for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine to fund an opulent lifestyle and then lying to banks to secure $20 million in loans after his Ukrainian income dried up and he needed cash.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
