Trump calls Mueller report claims ‘bull’
House subpoenas unredacted form of document
Report found he did not collude
DONALD Trump lashed out at the inquiry into Russian meddling with his election campaign yesterday, calling some of its claims ‘total b ****** t’.
In a Twitter rant, the US president slammed the ‘crazy’ report by special counsel Robert Mueller, saying it contained ‘fabricated’ claims made by ‘Trump haters’.
The outburst came as Mr Trump’s political opponents issued a subpoena demanding the release of the full conclusions of the 22-month investigation.
A redacted version of the 448page report was finally released on Thursday.
It concluded that Mr Trump and his campaign team did not collude with the Russians to win the 2016 election.
But on the question of obstruction of justice, Mr Mueller was ‘unable to conclude no criminal conduct occurred’.
Democrats seized upon the report – and some threatened to sign articles of impeachment against the president.
Amid a feverish atmosphere in Washington, Mr Trump appeared to go back on his previous statements that the report was a ‘total exoneration’.
He tweeted: ‘Statements are made about me by certain people in the Crazy Mueller Report, in itself written by 18 Angry Democrat Trump Haters, which are fabricated & totally untrue.
‘Because I never agreed to testify, it was not necessary for me to respond to statements made in the “Report” about me, some of which are total b ****** t ... This was an Illegally Started Hoax that never should have happened.’
On Thursday, Mr Trump had termed the Mueller report release ‘a good day’ for him, adding ‘it was called no collusion, no obstruction’. Both sides are using the findings to amplify well-rehearsed arguments about Mr Trump’s conduct.
Republicans are casting him as a victim of harassment, while Democrats are depicting the president as stepping far over the line to derail the investigation. House Judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler sent a letter to the Justice Department requesting that Mr Mueller himself testify before his panel ‘no later than May 23’.
The New York Democrat also issued a subpoena for Mr Mueller’s complete report as well as underlying documents, including grand jury evidence, which was redacted.
Grand jury evidence, including witness interviews, is normally off limits but can be obtained in court.
The Justice Department released its redacted version of the report about 90 minutes after Mr Barr offered his own final assessment of the findings at a testy news conference. Mr Trump tweeted Game Over in a typeface mimicking the ‘Game of Thrones’ logo.
By late afternoon, he was airborne for Mar-a-Lago with First Lady Melania Trump for the holiday weekend. The subpoena is the opening shot in what could be a lengthy legal battle as Congress escalates its investigation of the US president.
If the Justice Department does not respond, Democrats could hold officials in contempt of Congress or eventually fight the battle in court.