Trump laments ‘witch hunt’ as lawyers deny investigation

DONALD TRUMP angrily decried as a “distraction” the “witch hunt” against him yesterday, as his lawyer insisted the president was not under criminal investigation in the sweeping inquiry into Russian meddling in the US elections.

The contradictory messages came after Mr Trump seemingly confirmed reports that he is being investigated for obstruction of justice, tweeting on Friday: “I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt.”

But Jay Sekulow, who is part of Mr Trump’s legal team, said Mr Trump was in fact writing about reports of an investigation, not an actual probe.

“The tweet from the president was in response to the five anonymous sources purportedly leaking info to The Washington Post,” Mr Sekulow told NBC. “He’s not afraid of the investigation. There is no investigation ... there is not an investigation of the president of the United States, period.”

Mr Sekulow was referring to a report last week that said special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in November’s presidential election was now examining whether Mr Trump obstructed justice.

Yesterday, Mr Trump again referred to the probe, dismissing it as a “distraction”. He said: “The Make America Great Again agenda is doing very well despite the distraction of the Witch Hunt.”

Mr Sekulow added: “There has been no notification from the special counsel’s office that the president is under investigation.”