President Donald Trump didn’t answer a direct question Tuesday regarding whether he would pardon his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was indicted last week on charges related to money laundering.
Before closing off a meeting to the press on tax reform at the White House, reporters in the room yelled out questions, and one could be heard loud and clear.
"Are you going to pardon Manafort?" an off camera reporter asked.
After a short pause, Trump responded by thanking everyone in attendance.
"Thank you everybody," Trump said while other questions were being shouted.
"A very disciplined President Trump on the subject of whether or not he would pardon Manafort," MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell said immediately afterward.
Manafort was charged with conspiracy against the United States and 11 other charges Monday morning, when he surrendered to the FBI.
His and Richard Gates' indictments constituted the first charges stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election. However, neither the Trump campaign nor Russian collusion is mentioned in the indictment against Manafort.