Corey Lewandowski said he turned down Cambridge Analytica "three times" when he was the Trump campaign manager, and reiterated if anyone colluded with Russians to impact the election "they should go to jail for the rest of their lives."
"I never approved Cambridge Analytica's contract," Lewandowski told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "They did not work for the campaign when I was the manager, so we have to be clear about that.
"They pitched me three times. Three times I said no. They did not come to the campaign until after I left."
It has been reported this week Cambridge Analytica mined private Facebook user data, although it has denied using it to aid President Donald Trump's campaign efforts.
Lewandowski left the Trump campaign June 20, 2016, and told host Chuck Todd he cannot vouch for what Cambridge Analytica or Trump campaign contributors may or may not have done after his departure.
"I wasn't there, and what Paul Manafort did or others may or may not have done, I wouldn't have any access to that information," Lewandowski told Todd. "But what I have said was if anybody did collude with the Russians in any way, shape or form to impact the election, they should go to jail for the rest of their lives."
Lewandowski did acknowledge he was generally aware eventual Trump campaign strategist Steve Bannon was connected to Cambridge Analytica before his June 20 departure, but he was not involved in any future Trump deal with the data-analytics firm.
"I knew that Steve had a role in the organization," Lewandowski said. "I didn't know what his ultimate role was, but that didn't impact my decision, because I didn't hire them. They came to me three times, and I said no all three times."
Lewandowski is co-author of "Let Trump Be Trump: The Inside Story of His Rise to the Presidency."
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