Trump: Manafort was let go because of conflicts with 'certain nations'

President Donald Trump said in an interview that he hopes special counsel Robert Mueller is "treating everything fairly" as part of his Russia investigation.
Trump also sought to distance himself from Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman who was indicted on 12 counts on Monday.
The president continued to say he's not under investigation, contrary to several media reports over the last few months.

President Donald Trump said in an interview that he hopes special counsel Robert Mueller is "treating everything fairly" as he investigates Russia's interference in the 2016 election, which involves looking into whether any members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to sway the race in his favor.

"Well, I hope he's treating everything fairly," Trump told "Full Measure" host Sharyl Attkisson in an interview that will air on Sunday. "And if he is, I'm going to be very happy, because when you talk about innocent, I am truly not involved in any collusion with Russia.

"Believe me, that's the last thing I can think of to be involved in," Trump added.

Trump's defense team has been cooperating with Mueller's investigation, largely at the urging of Ty Cobb, the white-collar defense attorney leading the president's legal team, who has argued that cooperating with the special counsel will ensure that the investigation concludes quickly and smoothly, and without the president getting caught in the crosshairs.

But Jay Sekulow, another attorney on Trump's defense team, told Politico on Thursday he will lodge a complaint against Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — who appointed Mueller special counsel in May — if Mueller looks too closely at Trump's prior business dealings.

Trump also addressed issues surrounding Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman who was indicted on Monday along with his longtime associate, Rick Gates, as part of Mueller's investigation.

"Paul was not there very long," Trump said of Manafort's tenure on the campaign.

Manafort joined the operation in March 2016 and departed in August,

Manafort is also associated with Oleg Deripaska, a wealthy Russian oligarch with known ties to the Kremlin. Deripaska's representatives claimed, in legal complaints filed in the Cayman Islands in 2014, that Manafort had disappeared after Deripaska gave him $19 million to invest in a failed Ukrainian TV venture.

Earlier this month,The Atlantic published several emailsthat appeared to show Manafort using his elevated role in the Trump campaign to resolve the dispute with Deripaska, by offering him "private briefings" on the campaign.

Manafort was also one of three top Trump campaign members, in addition to Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr., who attended a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer offering damaging information on then Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Trump said during his interview with Attkisson that no one has informed him that Mueller plans to question him.

"As far as I'm concerned, I haven't been told that we're under investigation," Trump said. "I'm not under investigation."