Former White House chief of staff Reince Preibus defended President Donald Trump’s frequent declaration that he had nothing to do with Russia, in a Monday appearance on Fox News.
“I never saw the president engaged in you know, discussions regarding Russia or you know data, nothing, none of it. So I believe the president when he says that he has got nothing to do with Russia,” Preibus declared, adding, “If you’re being accused of something and you’re the president, obviously he takes it personally. I don’t blame him for it.”
Preibus also reacted to the Friday announcement of a plea agreement by former deputy Trump campaign manager Rick Gates obtained during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Gates admitted to assisting former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort in illegally lobbying for the Ukrainian government and hiding their proceeds.
The former chief of staff said Gates was largely involved in “more logistics event planning, things that were going on behind the scenes, a lot of the busy work.” He added, “I wasn’t sure as far as how far into the policy or into the campaigning itself he was involved with. I don’t think he was actually and but to the extent of his involvement I don’t know.”