Fox & Friends repeats debunked claim that Manafort's illegal activity predated involvement in Trump campaign

Written by Media Matters Staff

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Hosts and guests on Fox & Friends repeatedly, and falsely, asserted that alleged illegal activities undertaken by President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort took place before Manafort joined the campaign. According to an indictment issued on October 30 by special counsel Robert Mueller, Manafort unlawfully hid Ukrainian payments from U.S. authorities “from approximately 2006 through at least 2016,” when Manafort had served as Trump’s campaign chairman. The false claim was made by Trump yesterday, apparently parroting Fox News personalities including Doocy. From the October 31 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): So, when you look at [Paul] Manafort and [Rick] Gates and you look at this, you think, “Well, is there much there?” The president tweeted this: “Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????” Also he said, “Also, there is NO COLLUSION.” And indeed, all of this stuff that happened with Paul Manafort and Mr. Gates, money laundering and tax stuff, which is alleged years before.

COREY LEWANDOWSKI: The indictments that Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, that have been handed down to them, had obviously nothing to do with their tenure at the campaign. They were from incidents that took place more than a decade ago.