As described by the Charleston Gazette-Mail, here is Senator Joe Manchin's position on the designation of Stephen Bannon from Breitbart News to be Trump's senior counselor and chief strategist:

Trump’s selection of Bannon, who has been a major voice of a fringe wing of the Republican Party, was immediately condemned by many Democrats in Congress because of his ties to white-nationalist messaging.

But Manchin said Friday he was unlikely to criticize or push back against Trump’s appointments.

“I don’t know this man,” Manchin said of Bannon. “Some of the stuff he’s written and probably done over the past, they tell me has been very toxic. I haven’t followed this guy. I don’t know him that well.”

Manchin took a similar position on Senator Jeff Sessions, who is Trump's choice for attorney general and who was rejected in the 1980s for a federal judgeship because, among numerous other charges, he considered the NAACP, the ACLU, and the National Council of Churches to be "un-American":

“I don’t know anything about that past,” Manchin said. “I’ve heard about his federal judgeship that got turned down because of derogatory remarks. I didn’t know any of that stuff.”

“I know Jeff very well,” Manchin added. “I’ve always liked Jeff.”

Hey senator, maybe you could do a little research?

For those not around in the late-1960s, Sergeant Schultz was a character in a popular network comedy series about a World War II German POW camp. (Yes, a POW comedy.) Schultz frequently said "I know nothing" to get himself out of possible trouble and his defense became a popular response for knowing but saying otherwise.