National Post (National Edition)

Call to end ‘rigged witch hunt’ just Trump’s ‘opinion’

- John Wagner and devlin Barrett Chidley: What if Trump’s threat to shut government is real? FP1

Donald Trump has called on his attorney general to end the investigat­ion into Russian election meddling, once again ramping up the rhetoric on the inquiry overshadow­ing his presidency.

In several inflammato­ry tweets, Trump escalated his attacks on the investigat­ion, led by special counsel Robert Mueller, that includes examining whether Trump’s campaign coordinate­d with Russia and whether Trump has obstructed the probe.

The tweets come at a particular­ly sensitive time in the investigat­ion, as a jury in Virginia is hearing evidence in the trial of Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, on tax evasion and fraud charges.

Referring to an investigat­ion that is examining his own actions, Trump called Mueller’s probe “a terrible situation” that should be stopped.

“This is a terrible situation and attorney general Jeff Sessions should stop this rigged witch hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!” Trump tweeted.

But in an interview Wednesday, two of Trump’s lawyers said Trump was not ordering Sessions to take any specific action.

“The president has issued no order or direction to the Department of Justice on this,” Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said, adding the president is allowed to express his opinion on Twitter.

“I think it’s very well-establishe­d the president uses tweets to express his opinion,” added Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. “He very carefully used the word ‘should.’ ”

A Justice spokeswoma­n declined to comment about Trump’s call for Sessions to end the investigat­ion.

Though Trump has previously called for an end to Mueller’s probe, Wednesday’s tweets were the most direct aimed at Sessions — and they drew sharp criticism, including from some members of Trump’s own party.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins said it “was entirely inappropri­ate and intemperat­e” for Trump to make such a request of Sessions.

Mueller was appointed special counsel by Deputy Attorney-general Rod Rosenstein after Sessions recused himself from the probe, citing his work on Trump’s 2016 campaign.

To end the investigat­ion, Sessions would either have to violate his recusal or announce that he is ending it.

“The only person who could fire Mueller is Rod Rosenstein, who is bound by Justice Department guidances that specify that he would have to have good cause, and it would have to be reported to Congress,” Collins said.

In an interview, Giuliani pushed back against suggestion­s that Trump’s tweets could be used against him in an obstructio­n of justice case. “Their attempt to claim obstructio­n by tweet is really a bizarre and novel theory,” he said. “It’s an attempt to infringe of his First Amendment right and ability to communicat­e with the American people.”

Trump has previously complained publicly on Twitter that the “Russian Witch Hunt Hoax” is continuing because of the decision by Sessions to recuse himself.

U.S. attorneys are prosecutin­g Manafort for allegedly failing to pay taxes on millions he made from his work for a pro-russia Ukrainian political party, and then lying to get loans when the cash stopped. The Mueller investigat­ion turned up evidence being used in the trial, but the charges are not related to Russian interferen­ce in the 2016 election.

Writing on Twitter, Trump dismissed the charges against Manafort as “old charges (that) have nothing to do with Collusion” and questioned why the government did not tell him that Manafort was under investigat­ion before he hired him to be part of his 2016 campaign.

He later raised the question of whether Manafort was being treated worse than Al Capone.

“Looking back on history, who was treated worse, Alfonse Capone, legendary mob boss, killer and ‘Public Enemy Number One,’ or Paul Manafort, political operative & Reagan/dole darling, now serving solitary confinemen­t — although convicted of nothing? Where is the Russian Collusion?” Trump wrote.

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