Again with the ‘no collusion’ (Picture: Getty)

A new day, another fresh set of of tweets from the president defending himself from criminal wrongdoing.

Donald Trump emphasized again that there was ‘no collusion’ between the Trump campaign and Russia following the indictment of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates.

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He then sought to distance himself from George Papadopoulos — a former adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents.

Trump wrote: ‘The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manaforts lawyer said, there was “no collusion” and events mentioned took place long before he came to the campaign.


‘Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!’

The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manaforts lawyer said, there was "no collusion" and events mentioned took place long before he… — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

….came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

Who is George Papadopoulos? He was a member of the campaign’s foreign policy team. He is pleading guilty to lying to federal agents about his dealings with several Russians who were offering ‘dirt’ on Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Papadopoulos’ plea occurred on October 5 and was unsealed Monday. In court papers, he admitted lying about the nature of his interactions with ‘foreign nationals’ who he thought had close connections to senior Russian government officials. Trump aides have said he played a limited role in the campaign and had no access to Trump.

Manafort and Gates were asked to surrender themselves to federal authorities on Monday morning.



Manafort has been charged with 12 counts including conspiracy against the United States.

Manafort was Trump’s campaign chairman and Gates is his former business partner and protege. Gates was forced to leave his longtime position at nonprofit America First Policies after his involvement with Manafort became apparent earlier this year.

The pair were allegedly paid millions of dollars which they then laundered while working on behalf of a pro-Kremlin political party in Ukraine.

Manafort has allegedly laundered millions of dollars (Picture: AP)

Rick Gates has been indicted on a number of charges (Picture: AP)

George Papadopoulos lied to FBI agents

The indictment files claim they were trying to hide money Ukraine paid from US authorities.

Part of it reads: ‘Manafort and Gates concealed from the Unites States their work as agents of, and millions of dollars in payments from, Ukraine and its political parties and leaders.’

It continues: ‘Manafort used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States, without paying taxes on that income.

‘Manafort, without reporting the income to his tax preparer or the United States, spent millions of dollars on luxury goods and services for himself and his extended family through payments wired from offshore nominee accounts to United States vendors.’

The documents later add: ‘Gates aided Manafort in obtaining money from these offshore accounts, which he was instrumental in opening.

‘In total, more than $75,000,000 flowed through the offshore accounts. Manafort laundered more than $18,000,000, which was used by him to buy property, good and services in the United States.’

They have both pleaded not guilty to all the charges.