Corey Lewandowski contradicts himself on Paul Manafort’s role in the campaign

Corey Lewandowski contradicted himself Tuesday about the size of Paul Manafort’s role in the campaign.

“Never was I contacted, or the president, [then candidate], contacted, about any relationship that Paul Manafort might’ve had by a government authority. He came on to the campaign in a very limited capacity to help us find delegates, worked through the convention, and then he left the campaign, was fired, in August,” Mr. Lewandowski said on Fox News.

Mr. Lewandowski served as campaign manager prior to Mr. Manafort taking the role in June of last year. Later in the interview, Mr. Lewandowski said the FBI should’ve contacted the campaign about Mr. Manafort’s questionable business ties because he was “in a high profile capacity.”

“If you’re the Republican or Democratic nominee for a major political party running for president of the United States, and there is a person who is joining the campaign in a high profile capacity, and that person happens to be under some kind of surveillance by the FBI for potential wrongdoings, you would think that just from a security standpoint, they would come and brief the campaign and say look we’ve got some concerns about this person,” Mr. Lewandowski said.

Mr. Lewandowski was referring to reports that Mr. Manafort was under a FISA warrant, meaning the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was monitoring him for his business dealings when he joined the campaign.

Mr. Manafort and his business partner Richard Gates were indicted for money laundering and tax evasion on Monday as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.