President tries to shift focus with Russia charges looming
In Twitter tirade, he says GOP should take aim at Clinton.
President Donald Trump raged on Twitter on Sunday about the investigations into his campaign’s ties with Russia, seeking to shift the focus to a litany of accusations against his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, as the special prosecutor is reportedly poised to issue the first indictment in the case.
In a series of midmorning posts, Trump said Republicans were now pushing back against the Russia allegations by looking into Clinton. But the president, who has often expressed frustration that his allies were not doing more to protect him from the Russia inquiries, made it clear he believed that Clinton should be pursued more forcefully, writing, “DO SOMETHING!”
He did not specify who should take such action, though critics have accused him of trying to improperly sway the inquiries.
“Never seen such Republican ANGER & UNITY as I have concerning the lack of investigation on Clinton made Fake Dossier (now $12,000,000?), the Uranium to Russia deal, the 33,000 plus deleted Emails, the Comey fix and so much more,” Trump wrote. “Instead they look at phony Trump/Russia ‘collusion,’ which doesn’t exist.”
Trump was apparently referring to revelations last week that Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee had paid for research that was included in a salacious dossier made public in January by BuzzFeed. The dossier contained claims about connections between Trump, his associates and Russia.
The president was also reviving unproved allegations that the Clinton Foundation received donations in exchange for her support as secretary of state for a business deal that gave Russia control over a large share of U.S. uranium production.
The president’s Twitter fusillade came as he and his advisers braced for the first public action by special prosecutor Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Mueller is believed to be examining whether there was collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow, and whether the president obstructed justice when he fired Comey.
CNN reported Friday that a federal grand jury in Washington had approved the first charges in Mueller’s investigation, and that plans had been made for anyone charged to be taken into custody as early as Monday. CNN said the target of the charges was unclear.
Multiple congressional committees have undertaken their own investigations into Russian meddling in the elections, following up on the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow sought to sway the contest in favor of Trump.