In fusillade of tweets, President Trump shows his frustration.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s frustration with the investigations into his campaign’s ties with Russia boiled over Sunday as he sought to shift the focus to a litany of accusations against his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, as the special counsel inquiry was reportedly poised to produce its first indictment in the case.
In a series of posts, Trump said Republicans are 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 in his tweets 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 allegations about connections between Trump, his associates and Russia.
The president was also reviving unproven allegations that Clinton was part of a quid pro quo in which 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 uranium production in the United States.
He also was returning to questions about Clinton’s use of a private email server and how former FBI Director James Comey handled an investigation into the matter, which was closed with no charges being filed. Trump initially cited the email case as a reason for firing Comey before conceding that it was because of the Russia inquiry.
The president’s Twitter fusillade came as he and his advisers braced for the first public action by Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor named after Comey’s ouster to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election. As part of his inquiry, 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 is unclear. The New York Times has not confirmed that charges have been approved.
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.