Sessions should end Mueller’s investigation, Trump tweets

Attack on special counsel draws criticism from both sides of aisle

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Attorney General Jeff Sessions should terminate the investigation into Russian election interference “right now” and called the prosecution of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort “a hoax.”

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 federal jury in Virginia is hearing evidence in Manafort’s trial 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 “before it continues to stain our country any further.”

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.

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

Even as his lawyers scrambled to convey what Trump intended, the president continued to tweet about the probe.

A Justice Department 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 directly aimed at Sessions, and they drew sharp criticism, including from some members of Trump’s own party.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said it “was entirely inappropriate and intemperate” for Trump to make such a request.

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.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Trump’s tweets indicated to her that he’s “worried” about the investigation.

“It’s not a secret: I think he’d like to kill the Mueller investigation any way he can,” she said.