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Although the President has repeatedly criticized the investigation and Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from overseeing it, Trump’s tweet that his attorney general “should stop” the probe is notable and raises fresh questions about whether the President is attempting to obstruct justice.
“This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!” the President tweeted.
The Justice Department declined to comment on Trump’s tweet. Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, attempted to walk back the tweet early Wednesday afternoon, telling CNN’s Dana Bash that Trump was “expressing his opinion on his favored medium for asserting his First Amendment right of free speech. He said ‘should’ not ‘must’ and no Presidential order was issued or will be.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders echoed that interpretation, telling reporters Trump “wants to see it come to an end as he has stated many times and we look forward to that happening.”
She added, “The President is not obstructing. He’s fighting back.”
Raises obstruction questions
California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, raised the question on Twitter Wednesday shortly after Trump’s remark.
“The President of the United States just called on his Attorney General to put an end to an investigation in which the President, his family and campaign may be implicated,” Schiff wrote. “This is an attempt to obstruct justice hiding in plain sight. America must never accept it.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called the tweet “highly inappropriate” and dismissed the possibility that Mueller is going to be fired.
“It would be far better if the President refrained from commenting and for Mr. Mueller to continue his investigation, which so far already has 30 indictments, including Russian nationalists,” she said on Capitol Hill.
Trump ratchets up attacks
Trump brought up Manafort by name in a second tweet on Wednesday, saying that he has worked in the past for “highly prominent and respected political leaders,” and that the charges against him “have nothing to do with Collusion,” which he referred to as “a Hoax!” In another tweet on Wednesday, Trump wrote, “Russian Collusion with the Trump Campaign, one of the most successful in history, is a TOTAL HOAX.”
CNN’s Laura Jarrett, Dan Scully, Veronica Stracqualursi, Betsy Klein, Maegan Vazquez and Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
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