June 15, 2017

Trump Blasts “Witch Hunt” Amid Obstruction of Justice Inquiry

He also suggested that investigators invented the ”phony collusion” claims against him.

Rex/ZUMA

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President Donald Trump erupted on Twitter Thursday morning to rail against new reports that special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the president for possible obstruction of justice.

The pair of tweets come one day after the Washington Post reported that Mueller’s Russia probe has been expanded to include potential crimes committed by the president. According to the report, Mueller has requested interviews with several high-level intelligence officials, including NSA director Mike Rogers, National Intelligence director Dan Coats, and CIA director Mike Pompeo.

The revelation marks a significant twist in the investigation, which until recently had not included a personal examination of Trump himself. The Post reported that Mueller began looking into whether Trump attempted to obstruct justice shortly after the abrupt dismissal of former FBI director James Comey last month.

On Monday, Trump’s friend, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy, suggested that Trump was considering firing Mueller from the independent investigation—a move administration officials and top Republican leaders strongly warned against. 

Other conservatives, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have shared the president’s disapproval of Mueller, specifically because of the lack of Republican lawyers hired to work on the investigation. On Thursday, Gingrich joined the president’s social media tirade with his own tweets slamming Mueller and the Russia probe:

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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