Trump continues attack on Mueller probe
TRUMP TAKES AIM AT MUELLER PROBE,
WASHINGTON — President Trump blasted special counsel Robert Mueller and his ongoing criminal probe yesterday, accusing the investigation of being tainted by partisan politics and making a full break from the White House’s previous approach of vowing full cooperation.
Trump’s attack on Mueller’s probe of Russian meddling, potential Trump team collaboration and possible obstruction of justice heightened concerns on Capitol Hill that the president is mulling firing Mueller, a move that congressional Republicans warned would be politically disastrous.
Trump has denied any collusion with Russia during the campaign, and has downplayed reports that Russia acted in an attempt to boost his campaign and harm Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton’s. But over the weekend Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a British-based data-analysis company that Trump’s campaign used, after reports it improperly tapped the profiles of more than 50 million users without their permission.
That was the largest data breach in Facebook history, allowing Cambridge Analytica — which has ties to former Trump campaign and White House aide Steve Bannon — to help its work on behalf of the campaign, The New York Times reported.
Trump tweeted yesterday, “Why does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans?” Trump did not note that Mueller himself is a registered Republican and was appointed to head the FBI in 2001 by then-President George W. Bush.
“Another Dem recently added,” Trump continued, “does anyone think this is fair? And yet, there is NO COLLUSION!”
The tweet was one of a string of messages from Trump over the weekend deriding Mueller as well as former FBI Director James B. Comey and recently fired Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
“The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!”