Trump: No plans to fire Mueller
But he objects to transfer of transition team’s emails
“It’s quite sad to see that. My people were very upset. ... A lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad.” President Trump On the handling of his transition team’s emails
WASHINGTON – President Trump said Sunday that he did not plan to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, even though Trump lawyers objected to Mueller obtaining emails from Trump transition officials in his investigation into whether they colluded with Russian agents.
Returning from Camp David on Sunday, Trump said that he’s not happy with the way the investigation is being handled and that transition emails were improperly turned over to investigators.
“Not looking good. It’s not looking good. It’s quite sad to see that. My people were very upset to see that,” Trump said. “A lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad.”
Trump was responding to a complaint that the General Services Administration turned over to investigators thousands of pages of emails to and from Trump transition officials. The GSA is responsible for running presidential transitions, and the Trump officials used government email accounts.
Trump transition lawyer Kory Langhofer complained to congressional committees that the emails should not have been turned over, but the GSA maintained they are government records.
Trump said he was confident the emails wouldn’t show any evidence that his campaign or transition teams colluded with Russia in the 2016 election. “I can’t imagine there’s anything on them, frankly, because as we said, there’s no collusion,” he said.
Mueller’s investigation has resulted in guilty pleas by former national security adviser Michael Flynn and campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos for lying to the FBI. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Mana- fort and his deputy Rick Gates were indicted on conspiracy charges in connection with their lobbying for foreign governments, including Ukraine.
Trump also addressed: ❚ Sen. John McCain’s health: Trump said he spoke to Cindy McCain, wife of the ailing Arizona senator, who returned to Arizona Sunday to continue receiving treatment for brain cancer. “I wish John well. I understand he’ll come if we ever needed his vote, which hopefully we won’t,” Trump said. “He’s going through a very tough time.”
❚ Cuba sanctions: Trump said Cuba violates human rights and would be subject to U.S. sanctions. Sunday wasthe second anniversary of President Obama’s partial lifting of those sanctions. “When they don’t do the right thing, we’re not going to do the right thing,” Trump said. “That’s all there is to it.”