Trump’s gripe as inquiry widens
AN embattled Donald Trump has complained that no US president has ever been treated “more unfairly”, as a respected former FBI director was given sweeping powers to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign.
As top Republican figures demanded the facts on the scandals convulsing the Trump presidency and rattling world markets, former FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel by the Department of Justice.
Mr Mueller, who led the FBI from 2001-13, has been given a broad mandate to look into the actions of President Trump’s associates and even the circumstances of the sudden dismissal last week of James Comey, his latest successor at the FBI.
The White House has been thrown into turmoil by a succession of stunning allegations against the president, the most damaging of which is that he may have obstructed justice by earlier asking Mr Comey to drop a probe into one of his top advisers.
“We need the facts,” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said over Mr Trump’s request to Mr Comey, after claims he shared US secrets with Russian officials in the Oval Office.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to provide Congress with a record of Mr Trump’s controversial exchange with his country’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week.
Yesterday, Mr Trump vented his frustration during a speech at the US Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, saying: “No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly.”
Mr Trump urged graduating cadets to “fight, fight, fight. Never, ever give up”.
“Adversity makes you stronger. Don’t give in, don’t back down ... and the more righteous your fight, the more opposition you will face,” he said.
The Justice Department’s appointment of Mr Mueller is an acknowledgment of growing public demands to place the politically charged inquiry into the hands of an outside investigator.
It follows weeks of questions about the Justice Department’s independence from the White House.
“I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability,” Mr Mueller said after his appointment.