Sarah Huckabee Sanders denies knowledge of discussions about Manafort pardon

WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday said she was unaware of any discussions about a presidential pardon for Paul Manafort after prosecutors said the ex-campaign chairman for Donald Trump breached his plea deal in a probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“I’m not aware of any conversations for anyone’s pardon involving this process at all,” Sanders said when asked whether Trump planned to pardon Manafort.

Rudy Giuliani, a Trump attorney, has suggested Manafort, 69, and other indicted associates could be eligible for presidential pardons at the end of the probe by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Mueller has accused Manafort of lying to federal prosecutors in violation of a plea deal he made in September. As part of the agreement, Manafort was expected to cooperate in exchange for a shorter prison sentence and fewer criminal charges.

According to The Associated Press, Mueller’s team said Manafort “committed federal crimes” by lying about “a variety of subject matters” even after he agreed to cooperate truthfully with the investigation. Prosecutors said they will detail the “nature of the defendant’s crimes and lies” in writing at a later date.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump criticized Mueller as, “a conflicted prosecutor gone rogue” as Trump continued to try to discredit the Russia investigation, calling it a “phony witch hunt” that has “ruined lives.”

In a series of morning tweets, the president said: “Wait until it comes out how horribly & viciously they are treating people, ruining lives for them refusing to lie.”

Manafort could have been an important witness in the special counsel’s probe because he was present at key junctures, including a meeting at Trump Tower involving Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer. Trump Jr. had been told the lawyer had derogatory information about then- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Manafort could have faced a life sentence if he hadn’t agreed to cooperate with Mueller. Manafort pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. to two counts of felony conspiracy that carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Also Tuesday, the British newspaper The Guardian reported thatManafort and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had met inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

The report, based on unidentified sources, said one of the meetings occurred around March 2016, months before WikiLeaks published documents stolen from the Democratic National Committee.

In a statement in which he threatened legal action against The Guardian Manafort said: “I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to WikiLeaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or WikiLeaks on any matter.”

In Tuesday’s press briefing, Sanders stressed the administration’s frustration with the Mueller investigation, calling it “ridiculous.”

Asked whether Trump planned to fire Mueller, she said the president “has no intent to do anything.”

Trump and his attorneys submitted responses to Mueller’s questions two weeks ago. Trump told reporters last week he had written the answers himself.

“The entire administration has been fully cooperative with the special counsel’s office, providing hours and hours of sit downs as well as over four million pages in documents,” Sanders said Tuesday. “We continue to be cooperative but we also know that there was no collusion and we’re ready for this to wrap up.”

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.