President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE in an interview broadcast early Thursday dodged a question about whether he would pardon his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort Paul John ManafortOur Constitution is under attack by Attorney General William Barr Bannon trial date set in alleged border wall scam Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE, who was convicted this week on federal charges.

“Are you considering pardoning Paul Manafort?” “Fox & Friends” host Ainsley Earhardt asked the president.

“I have great respect for what he’s done in terms of what he’s gone through,” Trump replied.

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“I would say what he did … every consultant, every lobbyist in Washington probably does,” he added before turning to former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonFox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio Trump, Biden court Black business owners in final election sprint The power of incumbency: How Trump is using the Oval Office to win reelection MORE.

“Look at the crimes that Clinton did, with the emails, and she deletes 33,000 emails after she gets a subpoena from Congress and this Justice Department does nothing about it. And all of the other crimes that they’ve done,” Trump said.

“I didn’t know Manafort well, he wasn’t with the campaign long. They got him on things totally unrelated to the campaign. And by the way they got [Michael] Cohen on things totally unrelated to the campaign. I’m not involved. I wasn’t charged with anything,” he said.

“But when you look at the corruption on the other side,” he added.

President @realDonaldTrump on if he would pardon Paul Manafort pic.twitter.com/98QPG8AAUa — FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 23, 2018

Manafort on Tuesday was convicted on eight charges of bank and tax fraud, including five charges of filing false income tax returns, one count of failing to report foreign bank accounts and two counts of bank fraud. A mistrial was declared on 10 additional counts.

Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, also pleaded guilty on Tuesday to eight felony charges, including two counts of violating campaign finance law by arranging payments to two women who say they had affairs with Trump. He implied in a court document that Trump directed him to make the payments.