President Trump told the New York Post Wednesday that while he has not discussed the possibility of pardoning Paul Manafort, he cannot promise he won't exercise that option.
He also accused the special counsel of trying to force his allies – all proven liars – to lie.
“It was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?” the president said during an Oval Office interview.
He ripped special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and charged that Manafort, former political adviser Roger Stone and Stone’s associate Jerome Corsi were all asked to lie by the special counsel.
“If you told the truth, you go to jail,” Trump said.
“You know this flipping stuff is terrible. You flip and you lie and you get — the prosecutors will tell you 99 percent of the time they can get people to flip. It’s rare that they can’t,” Trump said.
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“It’s actually very brave,” he said of the trio. “And I’m telling you, this is McCarthyism. We are in the McCarthy era. This is no better than McCarthy. And that was a bad situation for the country. But this is where we are. And it’s a terrible thing,” Trump added.
Mueller’s team has accused Manafort of repeatedly lying to them “on a variety of subject matters.”
Corsi, who also has been caught lying but is rejecting a plea deal from the special counsel, claims he is not angling for a pardon.
“My decision to reject the special counsel offer was not made anticipating a pardon, I have no reason to believe or anticipate that President Trump would pardon me,” Corsi said.
“And even if the president promised that he would not pardon me, I would still make the same decision, because I’m not going to violate my integrity in order to stay out of jail,” he continued.
Trump says pardon for Paul Manafort still a possibility (New York Post)
Jerome Corsi: I am not seeking a pardon from Trump (The Hill)