2016 ELECTION/COURTS/PAUL MANAFORT/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump on Friday [3-8-19] seized on a portion of a federal judge’s remarks during the sentencing of his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in a financial crimes case to again criticize the Russia investigation and falsely declare a finding of ‘no collusion.’ Speaking to reporters before he left for Alabama to inspect tornado damage, Mr. Trump said that the sentencing judge, T.S. Ellis III of the United States District Court in Alexandria, Va., had said ‘there was no collusion with Russia.’ Mr. Trump added that he was ‘very honored’ Judge Ellis made that statement. Mr. Trump, however, twisted Judge Ellis’s words…There was ‘no collusion’ because Mr. Manafort was not charged with or convicted of any crimes of collusion, a word that has no legal definition but has become a term of art for the special counsel’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.”
–Eileen Sullivan, “Trump Falsely Claims That Manafort Judge Declared There Was ‘No Collusion’ With Russia,” The New York Times online, March 8, 2019