President Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was "very, very surprised" to learn that FBI agents conducted a pre-dawn raid in July at the Virginia home of Paul Manafort, who served as his campaign chairman for six months last year.
"You know, they do that very seldom, so I was surprised to see it," he said. "I was very, very surprised to see it. I thought it was a very, very strong signal, or whatever." Manafort's home was raided as part of the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and Manafort's spokesman, Jason Maloni, told CNN Manafort has "consistently cooperated with law enforcement and other serious inquiries and did so on this occasion as well."
Trump said he hasn't discussed the raid with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and it's been a "long time" since he last spoke with Manafort. "I've always found Paul Manafort to be a very decent man," he said. "He's like a lot of other people — probably makes consultant fees from all over the place. Who knows? I don't know, but I thought it was pretty tough stuff to wake him up, perhaps his family was there."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
