text: He said this "is a very, very tough time" for Manafort, 69, who still faces sentencing in a separate case next week in DC, where a judge could impose as much as 10 more years for conspiracy to obstruct justice and defraud the government.
  "I don't even discuss it," he said.
  Manafort could have faced up to 24 years in the slammer, but Virginia federal Judge T.S. Ellis III said he found that "excessive" and sentenced him to 47 months for a massive fraud scheme tied to his work as a political consultant for Ukraine's pro-Russian government.
  Trump also said he was "honored" by Ellis' sentence.
  "The judge — I mean for whatever reason, I was very honored by it — also made the statement that this had nothing to do with collusion with Russia," he said.
  Trump repeated his oft-stated assertion that he did not assist Russia in allegedly interfering in the 2016 presidential election, saying, "I don't collude with Russia."
  "It's a collusion hoax. It's a collusion witch hunt," he added.
  Earlier Friday, Trump also tweeted about the 47-month sentence, which is far shorter than the guidelines that recommended 19½ to 24 years.
  "But the Witch Hunt Hoax continues as you now add these statements to House & Senate Intelligence & Senator Burr. So bad for our Country!"
  The judge did not actually say there was no evidence of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia — he just said Manafort did not face any charges related to collusion.
  "He is not before the court for anything having to do with colluding with the Russian government to influence the election," Ellis told the court.
  Manafort lawyer Kevin Downing told reporters outside court that "there is absolutely no evidence Paul Manafort worked in collusion with any government official from Russia."
  On Friday morning, Trump also slammed Michael Cohen, saying his former lawyer told a "stone-cold lie" in claiming that he did not seek a pardon.
  Cohen — who was sentenced to three years in prison for a variety of crimes, including campaign finance violations — came under renewed scrutiny after telling Congress that he never sought a pardon from the president.
  Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, said Cohen had lawyers reach out to him last year about the possibility of Trump intervening.