Trump says Manafort pardon not 'off the table' - CNN

"It was never discussed, but I wouldn't take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?" Trump told the New York Post.

The President's comments come following special counsel Robert Mueller's accusation that Manafort violated his plea agreement and lied to Mueller's team after being found guilty on eight counts of financial crimes in August.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said there had been no conversations about a potential presidential pardon for Manafort.

Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani told CNN Tuesday that he and Manafort's defense team have been discussing issues relating to Trump and the administration.

In the interview with the Post, Trump accused Mueller of urging Manafort, former Trump adviser Roger Stone and his colleague Jerome Corsi to lie.

"If you told the truth, you go to jail," Trump told the Post about Mueller's investigative practices.

"You know this flipping stuff is terrible," he added. "You flip and you lie and you get -- the prosecutors will tell you 99% of the time they can get people to flip. It's rare that they can't."

"It's actually very brave," Trump said of the three men.

Trump has previously left the door open to a Manafort pardon. He dodged the question when asked about a potential pardon by Fox News in August.

"I have great respect for what he's done in terms of what he's gone through," he said before listing other Republicans for whom Manafort has worked.

The New York Times reported in August that Trump and Giuliani had discussed the potential political fallout of a Manafort pardon, but Giuliani told the Times that the President was not considering it.

"Yesterday's plea and Manafort's conviction, none of it had to do with collusion, none of it has to do with obstruction," Giuliani said, according to The New York Times. "He really thinks Manafort has been horribly treated."

The eight charges against Manafort were brought as part of Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign, but were unrelated and prior to Manafort's tenure as chairman of the Trump campaign.

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