Trump attacks Mueller for continuing 'Phony Witch Hunt' day after Manafort accused of lying originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

The morning after Robert Mueller's prosecutors accused the president's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, of lying and breaking his cooperation agreement with the special counsel, President Donald Trump took to to criticize the probe as a "Phony Witch Hunt" that's doing "TREMENDOUS damage to our Criminal Justice System."

The president described Mueller as "only looking at one side and not the other" and said his team is "ruining lives for them refusing to lie."

"Heroes will come of this," Trump said.

Prosecutors with Mueller's legal team told a judge Monday that Manafort breached his cooperation agreement and lied to investigators, a new court filing showed. Manafort’s legal team has disputed that charge, telling a federal judge that the embattled former Trump adviser “believes he has provided truthful information and does not agree with the government’s characterization or that he has breached the agreement.”

(MORE: Special counsel Robert Mueller's office says Paul Manafort broke his cooperation deal by lying)

PHOTO: Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, leaves the federal courthouse in Washington, DC, Nov. 6, 2017. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP, FILE) More

Manafort, who agreed to cooperate with the special counsel and had been fielding questions from them since September, was convicted of financial crimes in late August, marking the first major prosecution won by Mueller's team in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

(MORE: Manafort found guilty on 8 counts in tax fraud trial)

The Phony Witch Hunt continues, but Mueller and his gang of Angry Dems are only looking at one side, not the other. Wait until it comes out how horribly & viciously they are treating people, ruining lives for them refusing to lie. Mueller is a conflicted prosecutor gone rogue.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2018

....The Fake News Media builds Bob Mueller up as a Saint, when in actuality he is the exact opposite. He is doing TREMENDOUS damage to our Criminal Justice System, where he is only looking at one side and not the other. Heroes will come of this, and it won’t be Mueller and his... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2018

Trump said the Mueller investigation, which the Justice Department said in May had cost about $17 million as of the end of March, has produced "nothing but ruined lives."

....terrible Gang of Angry Democrats. Look at their past, and look where they come from. The now $30,000,000 Witch Hunt continues and they’ve got nothing but ruined lives. Where is the Server? Let these terrible people go back to the Clinton Foundation and “Justice” Department! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2018

The latest developments have renewed questions about whether President Trump might pardon his former campaign chairman for his crimes. Trump has not ruled out the possibility and has repeatedly told reporters when questioned on the topic that he does not want to discuss it.

PHOTO: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders calls on reporters during a news conference at the White House, Sept. 10, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) More

Press secretary Sarah Sanders said at a press briefing Tuesday that she is “not aware of any conversations for anyone’s pardon involved" in the Mueller probe.

The president has previously expressed sympathy for Manafort's legal woes, even comparing how he's been treated to the infamous mobster Al Capone, and pointing to his case as one piece of what he sees as a broader "witch hunt" to hurt Trump and his allies.

"I feel very badly for Paul Manafort," Trump has said of his former campaign chairman.

"I must tell you that Paul Manafort is a good man. He was with Ronald Reagan. He was with a lot of different people over the years. And I feel very sad about that. It doesn't involve me, but I still feel -- you know, it's a very sad thing that happened. This has nothing to do with Russian collusion. This started as Russian collusion. This has absolutely nothing to do -- this is a witch hunt, and it's a disgrace," Trump told reporters in August.

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