Is Manafort 'scared about something else?' NBC reporter bewildered by Trump campaign manager’s lying to Mueller

NBC investigative reporter Tom Winter told MSNBC on Thursday that he was unable to figure out why President Donald Trump's convicted campaign manager Paul Manafort lied repeatedly to the special counsel's office about his connections to Russia when he had been offered a deal that would have allowed him to avoid life in prison.

"He not only lied to the special counsel's office, he lied to federal agents, and also the judge found based on the preponderance of the evidence that he lied to a grand jury," Winter told host Hallie Jackson. "So he kind of hit the trifecta there. I don't understand why you would do this."

Winter added that Manafort's cooperation agreement was "a great deal for him," that allowed the convicted criminal to "bare his soul," with no limits.

"Actually it was really a great deal for him," Winter continued. "It would have gotten him out of a lot of heat in D.C., they would have asked for a downward reduction in his sentence, and for someone of Paul Manafort's age, it's a natural part of aging, looking at all the years he could do in prison, it could essentially end up being a life sentence."

"I don't understand why he would do this," Winter repeated. "Is he covering for a meeting that occurred? Is he scared about something else coming out? Does he not want to try to upset the president? We just don't have enough details yet."

Watch the video below.