The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess,” Trump wrote. “They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation and don’t care how many lives the ruin.”
He continued: “These are Angry People, including the highly conflicted Bob Mueller, who worked for Obama for 8 years. They won’t even look at all of the bad acts and crimes on the other side. A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!”
In his tweets, Trump misstated Mueller’s background. A registered Republican, he was nominated to be FBI director in 2001 by President George W. Bush. In 2011, President Barack Obama gave his original 10-year term a two-year extension.
Mueller was tapped to be special counsel last year by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who started overseeing the Russia investigation after Sessions recused himself, citing his role in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
[Flake refuses to vote for Trump’s judicial nominees until the Senate acts on bill to protect Mueller]
White House officials have sought in recent days to highlight their continuing cooperation with Mueller’s team despite Trump’s opinion of the probe.
During an appearance Thursday morning on CNN, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said he is concerned that Trump’s description of the “inner workings” of the Mueller investigation could signal that Whitaker is inappropriately sharing details about it with the president.
“Of course with this president, we don’t know. He may have simply made that up because he lies all the time,” said Nadler, who is in line to become chairman of the Judiciary Committee when Democrats take control of the House in January.
Nadler said it appears to him that Whitaker was appointed with the “express purpose of being a hatchet man to sabotage this investigation.”
More than two hours after his initial tweets Wednesday about the Mueller investigation, Trump returned to the subject later, accusing Mueller of protecting 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, several former FBI officials and “all of his friends on the other side.”
Universities will someday study what highly conflicted (and NOT Senate approved) Bob Mueller and his gang of Democrat thugs have done to destroy people,” Trump wrote. “Why is he protecting Crooked Hillary, Comey, McCabe, Lisa Page & her lover, Peter S, and all of his friends on the other side?”
Mueller’s job is not one that requires Senate approval.
Trump did not spell out why he thinks Mueller is “highly conflicted.”
In the past, Trump and White House officials have alluded to an alleged dispute over fees when Mueller resigned in 2011 as a member of the Trump National Golf Club in Northern Virginia. A spokesman for Mueller, who was FBI director at the time, said there was no dispute when Mueller left the club.
In another tweet Wednesday, Trump repeated a previous assertion that the only collusion in 2016 was between Russia and Democrats, and he lashed out at social media companies, accusing them of favoring Democrats. “That’s the real Collusion!” Trump wrote
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been blocking a bipartisan effort to protect Mueller’s investigation through legislation, saying he has seen no evidence that the White House will shut it down.
The bill would give any fired special counsel the ability to swiftly challenge their termination before a panel of three federal judges.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department released a memorandum defending the legality of Trump’s appointment of Whitaker, rejecting criticism from some lawyers that the move violates the Constitution.
Since the announcement last week, some have charged that Whitaker, who served as the chief of staff to Sessions, is ineligible to serve as head of the Justice Department because he is not a Senate-confirmed official.
On Tuesday, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh, a Democrat, asked a federal judge to block Whitaker’s appointment, arguing that Rosenstein should instead take on the role.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.1bd682fffe0c
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