Trump: Probe is ‘probably’ finished
President said he wouldn’t overrule AG if he decides to curtail the investigation into Russian interference.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he would not overrule his acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, if he decides to curtail the special counsel probe being led by Robert Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign.
“Look, it’s going to be up to him ... I would not get involved,” Trump said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
In the weeks since Trump forced Jeff Sessions to resign as attorney general and chose Whitaker to serve as his interim replacement, Whitaker has faced calls from Democrats to recuse himself from oversight of the probe given his previous criticism of the investigation. Trump said in Sunday’s interview that he “did not know (Whitaker) took views on the Mueller investigation as such” before he appointed him to his position.
Trump also essentially shut the door to sitting down with Mueller, telling host Chris Wallace that his written answers mean “probably this is the end” of his involvement in the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.
“I think we’ve wasted enough time on this witch hunt and the answer is probably: We’re finished,” Trump said.
Trump said Friday that he had answered a set of written questions from Mueller “very easily.” The president told Wallace in Sunday’s interview that it “wasn’t a big deal” and that he expects his legal team to submit the answers “at some point very soon.”
Trump’s answers had long been sought by Mueller during the course of his 18-month-old investigation. The probe has led to charges against 32 people, including 26 Russians. While four aides to Trump have pleaded guilty to various charges, Mueller’s team has not given any public indications as to whether it has concluded that Trump associates conspired with the Russians or whether the president obstructed justice by pressuring Justice Department leaders.
Key lawmakers also weighed in on Whitaker on Sunday.
In an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week,” incoming Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, DCalif., contended that Whitaker “was chosen for the purpose of interfering with the Mueller investigation” and said he “should have absolutely nothing to do” with the probe.
Schiff also said Whitaker should be subject to Senate confirmation.
Trump fired back in a tweet Sunday afternoon in which he argued that Mueller had not been confirmed by the Senate, either.
However, Mueller, unlike the attorney general, is not a Cabinet-level official; he was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and his role does not require Senate confirmation.
“I think we’ve wasted enough time on this witch hunt and the answer is probably: We’re finished.”
— President Donald Trump, referring to the Mueller investigation
Mueller also was twice confirmed by the Senate to serve as FBI director — in 2001 and 2011.
“So funny to see little Adam Schitt (D-CA) talking about the fact that Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker was not approved by the Senate, but not mentioning the fact that Bob Mueller (who is highly conflicted) was not approved by the Senate!” Trump said, misspelling Schiff’s last name.
Some Republicans on Sunday were looking past Whitaker and focusing on his potential successor. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said that Whitaker “seems to be a person who has the ability to do that acting job” but that the Justice Department needs a permanent leader as soon as possible.
“We need to move as quickly as we can beyond whoever’s the acting attorney general to an attorney general who’s going to be there for, hopefully, a much longer period of time,” he told ABC.
Blunt, a member of the Senate GOP leadership who also sits on the Intelligence Committee, said that he has confidence in the Mueller investigation and that it would be a “huge mistake” for Trump to seek to end it. “We need to get beyond this. We don’t need to have this starting again,” the senator said.
During Sunday’s wideranging interview, Trump said he does not feel it is necessary for him to listen to an audio recording of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last month.
“We have the tape. I don’t want to hear the tape. No reason for me to hear the tape,” Trump said.
He described it as “a suffering tape” and told Wallace, “I know everything that went on in the tape without having to hear it . ... It was very violent, very vicious and terrible.”
The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi leaders and a contributing columnist to The Washington Post. But Trump maintained on “Fox News Sunday” that the crown prince had told him that he had nothing to do with the killing. Aides have said that Trump has been looking for ways to avoid pinning the blame on Mohammed.
Trump also weighed in on the performance of several top members of his administration —saying there are people in “three or four or five positions” he is thinking about replacing — and maintained that his party had succeeded in the midterm elections despite losing the House.
He declined to say whether chief of staff John Kelly will remain in his position through 2020 as previously indicated, saying only, “I mean, it could be. Let’s see what happens.”
He also claimed that despite Republicans’ defeat in the House, where they have lost at least three dozen seats, their holding on to the Senate was “historic” and “a tremendous victory.”
“I didn’t run. I wasn’t running. My name wasn’t on the ballot,” Trump said. During the months leading up to Election Day, he repeatedly told supporters at his “Make America Great Again” rallies to “pretend I’m on the ballot.”
Trump also said Sunday that he could not envision trying to amend the Constitution to run for a third term as president in 2024.
“Just won’t happen,” Trump told Wallace. “I think the eight-year limit is a good thing, not a bad thing.”