Trump falsely accuses Mueller of coercing people to 'flip and lie' and suggests he may pardon Manafort

Reuters

Manafort served as Trump's campaign manager in mid-2016, when he won the Republican Party's nomination.

• President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a pardon for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is "not off the table" as he erroneously accused the special counsel Robert Mueller of coercing people to "flip and lie."
• "You know this flipping stuff is terrible. 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," Trump told The New York Post in an interview.
• This comes shortly after Manafort was accused by Mueller of violating his plea deal by lying to the FBI and the special counsel's office on a "variety of subject matters."

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a pardon for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is "not off the table" as he erroneously accused special counsel Robert Mueller of coercing people to "flip and lie."

In an Oval Office interview with the New York Post, the president said, "It was never discussed, but I wouldn't take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?"

Trump, without evidence, then accused Mueller of coercing Manafort - and others linked to the special counsel's probe into Russia election interference - to lie.

"You know this flipping stuff is terrible. 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," Trump said.

This comes shortly after Manafort was accused by Mueller of violating his plea deal by lying to the FBI and the special counsel's office on a "variety of subject matters."

Read more: What Paul Manafort's highly unusual move to brief Trump's team on his discussions with Mueller reveals about his strategy

Manafort in September pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and one count of conspiracy against the US.

Trump in recent days has raged over Mueller's claims, accusing him of "ruining people's lives" for "refusing to lie." The president has long criticized Mueller's investigation, characterizing it as a "witch hunt" while vehemently denying allegations his campaign colluded with Russia.

The presidential pardon is among the most controversial powers of the president, and critics have already accused Trump of abusing it by pardoning incendiary individuals such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio.