In a series of Twitter messages posted on Thursday, President Donald Trump blasted the Democratic Party and the “fake news” media, referring once again to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt.”
Notably, Trump supposedly admitted — for the first time ever, as Vox notes — that Russia had helped him win in 2016.
“Russia, Russia, Russia! That’s all you heard at the beginning of this Witch Hunt Hoax,” the president wrote.
“And now Russia has disappeared because I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected.”
As Vox put it, Trump’s statement can be read as “the Kremlin tried to help me win, but I didn’t coordinate with them.” As the publication notes, the admission is a significant departure from Trump’s previous statements — the president has long denied receiving help from the Kremlin, going as far as contradicting the findings of American intelligence services, and agreeing with President Vladimir Putin on the issue of election meddling.
Apart from inadvertently admitting that he had received help from the Kremlin in 2016, Trump blasted the media and the Democratic Party, alleging that both have shifted their attention to obstruction of justice because Mueller failed to prove a Trump-Russia conspiracy.
According to Trump, the Democrats and the media “say he fought back against this phony crime that didn’t exist, this horrendous false accusation, and he shouldn’t fight back, he should just sit back and take it.”
“Could this be Obstruction? No, Mueller didn’t find Obstruction either. Presidential Harassment!” the president concluded.
Trump’s statements come following Mueller’s impromptu press briefing. As The Inquisitr reported, Mueller held a press conference yesterday, speaking publicly for the first time about the findings of his investigation. Mueller explained that he had decided not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice because of the Justice Department’s policy which states that no sitting president can be indicted.
This is a huge deal—and it’s not clear if Trump even fully understands what he has finally acknowledged. https://t.co/xSLJAfQudM
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) May 30, 2019
In an implicit call for impeachment, Mueller suggested that the ball is now in Congress’ court. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers and virtually all Democratic presidential candidates called for impeachment proceedings to begin.
Although the number of Democrats calling for impeachment appears to be growing rapidly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains opposed to the idea.
In a statement about Mueller’s press conference, Pelosi did not even use the word “impeachment,” suggesting that Congress should simply continue investigating and legislating.
Pelosi says she’s “optimistic” on infrastructure deal with Trump https://t.co/Rb9fdF5FFF pic.twitter.com/8hnhHi6QPy
— The Hill (@thehill) May 29, 2019
President Trump’s most recent statements about Russian election meddling could potentially help reignite talks of impeachment. The pressure is now growing, and it remains to be seen whether Pelosi will withstand it or not.
