Trump’s tweets are ‘just opinion’
US President Donald Trump bluntly declared yesterday that his attorney general should terminate “right now” the federal probe into the campaign that took him to the White House, a newly fervent attack on the special counsel investigation that could imperil his presidency. Trump also assailed the trial, just under way, of his former campaign chairman by the special counsel’s team.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders scrambled to explain that Trump’s tweet was “not an order” and the President was not directing his attorney general to do anything. “It’s the president’s opinion,” she said.
But Trump’s early morning tweetstorm again raised the spectre that he could try to more directly bring special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia-Trump electioncollusion probe to a premature end. And it revived the idea that the President’s tweets themselves might be used as evidence that he is attempting to obstruct justice.
Meanwhile, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said negotiations were continuing to have Trump sit down for questions from Mueller, though the lawyer said: “I’m not going to give you a lot of hope that it’s going to happen.”
Trump has raged privately in recent days that both the forces of government and the media are trying to undermine him. That includes trumped-up charges against his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and distorting the outcome of the Helsinki summit to make it appear he was beholden to Russia, according to two Republicans close to the White House not authorised to speak about private conversations.
Trump was closely monitoring news coverage of the Manafort proceedings, which provoked the spate of tweets, according to sources.
“The President’s not obstructing, he’s fighting back,” said Sanders, dismissing the idea the tweets could be considered obstruction of justice.
The most inflammatory of Trump’s tweets said, “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!”