Conway: Manafort Trial Has Nothing to do With Trump Campaign

The federal trial against President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort has nothing to do with the campaign itself, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, who replaced Manafort during the 2016 election, insisted Tuesday morning.

"The judge has very strictly instructed no mention of Paul Manafort's role in the Trump campaign, no mention of Trump, Russia or collusion," Conway told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "This trial obviously centers on matters that have nothing to do with the campaign."

The trial is the first in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling, but Manafort is not facing charges related to his short tenure with Trump's campaign. Instead, he is facing federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud.

Prosecutors claim Manafort collected more than $60 million from his consulting work in Ukraine, but hid most of to avoid paying taxes. They also will argue that  Manafort fraudulently obtained millions more through a series of bank loans, including some he obtained while working with the Trump campaign.

As jury selection was getting underway Tuesday, Conway said that even Manafort has requested that there be no mention of his 'brief tenure at the Trump campaign several years ago."

"There may be one matter of somebody who he had gotten a loan from in exchange for a job on the campaign," she said. "That's just what I read."

Conway pointed out that the was the campaign manager "for the winning part of the campaign," but she certainly won't be facing any federal criminal charges.

"I certainly wasn't making money in Ukraine or talking to anyone in Moscow," said Conway. "That's very clear. This has nothing to do with collusion, Russia, nothing to do with the Trump campaign."

Conway on Tuesday also talked about the news that Trump is willing to speak with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, nothing the president has "made it clear he is open to conversation and negotiation."

Trump has talked with both North Korea President Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has stated that if such leaders don't want to make a good deal for the United States and its security, he will walk away any time, said Conway.

Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have made it clear Iran will need to change its behavior, including to its own people, she added.

"This is a better approach than forking over lots of dollars to the Iranian regime for a nuclear deal that this president has taken our country out of, because he said from the beginning in a winning way was a bad deal overseen by the last administration which his political opponent was a member," said Conway.

She also discussed Trump's threat to shut down the government if action isn't taken on border security, telling show host Bill Hemmer that it is frustrating "why Congress won't do its job and pass meaningful immigration reform."

"This president couldn't be more clear for the last three plus years on what he thinks about a broken immigration system," she said. "It is a stark contrast to the Democratic Party running to abolish ICE, which keeps us all safe."

Meanwhile, Conway said she gives Republicans a "better than fifty percent chance" of holding Congress in the fall midterms.

"This is a president who defies trends and makes his own and defies history and makes his own history," she said. "As the president said, he and the vice president will be very active on the campaign trail."

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