Trump Attacks Mueller Amid Increased Pressure From The Special Counsel’s Russia Probe
Facing increased pressure from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, President Trump unleashed a Twitter tirade this morning directed at Mueller and the investigation.
The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation and don’t…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2018
….care how many lives the ruin. These are Angry People, including the highly conflicted Bob Mueller, who worked for Obama for 8 years. They won’t even look at all of the bad acts and crimes on the other side. A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2018
President Trump offered no details to support his claims.
The president has reportedly been emotionally volatile this week as rumors have persisted that Mueller has a number of impending indictments forthcoming, as reported in Inquisitr, some of which are rumored to target people within President Trump’s inner circle. Newsweek reported in July that Representative Steve Cohen suggested that the Mueller probe would eventually issue indictments for Donald Trump, Jr. and Jared Kushner, and Roger Stone confirmed that in August, according to Newsweek. Stone and former Infowars editor Jerome Corsi are expecting indictments from Mueller soon, as reported by CBS News.
President Trump has been roundly criticized for forcing the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week and appointing in his place Matthew Whittaker as the acting attorney general. Whittaker has been a vocal critic of Mueller and the investigation in interviews over the past 18 months, and his appointment as the direct supervisor of the Mueller investigation has been seen as an attempt by President Trump to build a firewall against the probe. Members of Congress have pressed for Whittaker to recuse himself from supervising the investigation, as Sessions did, and Whittaker met with Department of Justice ethics officials earlier in the week to discuss his options.
President Trump’s lawyers are actively negotiating with the special counsel on potential testimony from the president via written answers to Mueller’s questions. Investigators are trying to uncover links between the Trump campaign and Russia’s interference in the election, and if President Trump has attempted to obstruct the investigation.
President Trump’s claims that Mueller is conflicted by his relationship with President Obama is puzzling. Mueller, a registered Republican, was appointed as FBI Director by President George W. Bush in 2001. President Obama recommended an extension of Mueller’s term, which was approved unanimously by the Senate. Mueller served in that capacity until 2013. In May of 2017, he was appointed as special counsel to the Russia investigation by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
President Trump’s tweets were posted hours after Vice President Mike Pence lodged a complaint regarding election meddling with Russia President Vladimir Putin at the Asian economic summit in Singapore, according to an administration official. President Trump met briefly with President Putin in Paris last week, and the two are scheduled to hold a longer conversation at the upcoming G-20 Summit in Argentina.
