President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end Robert Mueller’s Russia probe “right now,” escalating his attacks on the inquiry.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end Robert Mueller’s Russia probe immediately, escalating his attacks on the inquiry.
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now,” the president wrote in a post on Twitter. “Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!”
The tweet comes as Trump’s ex-campaign chief Paul Manafort, who was indicted by the special counsel last fall, faces trial for the second day in federal court in Virginia.
Sessions, who endorsed Trump’s presidential bid during the 2016 campaign, recused himself from the Russia investigation last March, before Mueller was appointed. The investigation is being overseen by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has defended Mueller against critics in Congress.
The president has criticized Sessions for his recusal. In June, the president wrote in a post on Twitter that Mueller was continuing to investigate “all because Jeff Sessions didn’t tell me he was going to recuse himself.”
“I would have quickly picked someone else. So much time and money wasted, so many lives ruined…and Sessions knew better than most that there was No Collusion,” the president wrote.
The Justice Department and the office of the special counsel did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC on Wednesday. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for elaboration on the president’s comments.
The special counsel is investigating the president’s tweets criticizing Sessions as part of a wider inquiry into whether the president has obstructed justice, The New York Times reported last month.
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