Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Mueller-Trump interview unlikely
President says it “seems unlikely” he’d talk with special counsel about Russia probe.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that it “seems unlikely” that he’d give an interview in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Trump said “we’ll see what happens” when asked if he’d provide an interview to Mueller’s team.
“When they have no collusion and nobody’s found any collusion at any level, it seems unlikely that you’d even have an interview,” Trump said during a joint news conference with the prime minister of Norway.
The special counsel’s team of investigators has expressed interest in speaking with Trump, but no details have been worked out. Trump’s lawyers have previously stated their determination to cooperate with requests in the probe, which has already resulted in charges against four of Trump’s campaign advisers.
Trump called the investigation a “phony cloud” over his administration.
“It has hurt our government,” he said. “It was a Democrat hoax.”
Trump’s words differed from what he said at a news conference in June, shortly after fired FBI Director James Comey had told Congress that Trump asked him for a pledge of loyalty. Trump denied that, and said he’d be “100 percent” willing tell his version of events under oath. He said he’d be “glad to” speak to Mueller about it.
The comments come after Trump had already lashed out at the investigations on Twitter on Wednesday morning, urging Republicans to take control of the inquiries and repeating his claim that they are on a “witch hunt.”
“There was no collusion, everybody including the Dems knows there was no collusion, & yet on and on it goes,” he tweeted. “Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing. Republicans should finally take control!”
In a separate tweet Wednesday morning, Trump accused Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of being “underhanded and a disgrace” for releasing the transcript of closed-door testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee by research firm Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. Fusion GPS was commissioned to put the dossier together, originally by a conservative political website and subsequently the Democratic National Committee. Feinstein, who faces a primary challenge in her re-election bid this year, released the transcript Tuesday, over the objections Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley. Feinstein is the top Democrat on the panel.
“The fact that Sneaky Dianne Feinstein, who has on numerous occasions stated that collusion between Trump/Russia has not been found, would release testimony in such an underhanded and possibly illegal way, totally without authorization, is a disgrace,” Trump tweeted. “Must have tough Primary!”
The material wasn’t classified, and Feinstein said Wednesday that she didn’t do anything illegal. And as the top Democrat on the committee, she didn’t need authorization from Grassley to release it. Her staff helped conduct the interview with Simpson, who had also asked for the interview to be released.
Still, the release was a blow to the two lawmakers’ attempts at bipartisanship on the committee’s Russia investigation. Feinstein told reporters that she didn’t tell Grassley beforehand, and “I owe him an apology, and I will give him an apology as soon as I see him.”
Grassley said in an angry news release on Tuesday that he was “confounded” by the release and argued that it could undermine attempts to get additional witnesses. By Wednesday he appeared to have softened.
Following his lead, several GOP-led committees are now investigating whether the dossier formed the basis for the FBI’s initial investigations. That has angered Democrats, who say those charges are distractions from the Russia investigations.