WASHINGTON — The fallout from Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and Paul Manafort’s guilty conviction on Tuesday continues to consume the White House.

  • Trump says he feels ‘very badly’ for Manafort
  • Also tweeted part of what Cohen pleaded guilty to is ‘not a crime’
  • President tries to distance self from crimes of 2 former aides

After not mentioning his former personal attorney or campaign chairman by name at a campaign rally in West Virginia Tuesday evening, President Trump tweeted out some reaction to both cases on Wednesday morning. 

The president echoed his previous comments that he feels “very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family.”

He claimed "Justice" pressured Manafort, but said, “Unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to 'break'” or “make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.' Such respect for a brave man!'”

A second tweet called the Mueller investigation a “witch hunt” and highlighted the mistrial that was declared for 10 of the 18 counts Manafort faced in his first trial.

And a third tweet claimed part of what Cohen pleaded guilty to was “not a crime.”

Cohen, the president’s former fixer, left Manhattan federal court on Tuesday having pleaded guilty to eight charges of financial crimes, including two where he implicated the president.

That happened around the same time that a 12-person jury in Alexandria, Virginia found Manafort guilty of eight counts of his own financial crimes.

But in a press briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wouldn’t get into the weeds of either case.

“I’m not going to get into the back and forth details,” she said to one reporter, who asked about mixed messages from the president and White House about Trump's knowledge of hush money payments to women who claimed to have had an affair with him.

“I can tell you, as the president has stated on numerous occasions, he did nothing wrong, there are no charges against him in this, and just because Michael Cohen made a plea deal doesn’t mean that that implicates the president on anything,” Sanders said.

In Washington, some Democratic lawmakers have started calling for the upcoming Supreme Court nomination hearings to be postponed in light of the Cohen and Manafort cases.

As for the president, he’s continuing to try to distance himself from the crimes of his two former top aides.