Top House Dem: Trump ‘dangling a pardon’ for Manafort, strengthening ‘claim or charge of obstruction of justice’

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) warned President Trump late Tuesday that “dangling a pardon” for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort could constitute obstruction of justice.

“I suspect they’re dangling a pardon in front of Manafort. But the president should understand that even dangling a pardon in front of a witness like Manafort is dangerously close to obstruction of justice and would just fortify a claim or charge of obstruction of justice against the president,” Nadler, who will likely become the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in the next Congress, told Erin Burnett on CNN’s “OutFront.”

{mosads}The comments come after special counsel Robert Mueller said Manafort breached his plea deal, telling a federal judge that the former Trump campaign aide lied to the FBI and the special counsel’s office “on a variety of subject matters.”

Manafort pleaded guilty to conspiracy and witness tampering in September after he was convicted during a separate trial for tax and banking crimes.

“Manafort is a demonstrated criminal, a convicted criminal, a convicted liar and someone who is lying again now, according to the special counsel,” Nadler told CNN, adding that Manafort “may very well implicate the president in collusion with the Russians to try to rig the election.”

“Any attempt to get him to change his testimony or not to testify by dangling a pardon would be very, would be obstruction of justice,” he continued.  

Some suggested that Manafort torched the plea bargain because he is awaiting a presidential pardon from Trump.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that she was unaware of any conversations about a presidential pardon for Manafort or anyone else charged in the special counsel’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling and possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow.

The president frequently lashes out at the probe, calling it a “witch hunt,” and accused Mueller this week of causing “tremendous damage” to the criminal justice system.

Trump has also suggested that Mueller brought an unfair case against his former campaign chairman.

“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. ‘Justice’ took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ – make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!” Trump tweeted in August.