May 17, 2018

On Anniversary of Mueller’s Appointment, Trump Calls the Probe a “Witch Hunt”

He also espoused a conspiracy theory that he called “bigger than Watergate.”

Olivier Douliery/ZUMA

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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump marked the one-year anniversary of the Justice Department’s appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel with a sarcastic tweet blasting the ongoing probe into ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia as the “greatest witch hunt in American history.” The president also repeated his claim that there is no evidence of collusion or obstruction. 

Since Mueller’s appointment, the investigation has produced five guilty pleas and 17 additional indictments. Trump has repeatedly attacked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller to the role of special counsel, both publicly and privately, and has threatened to “get involved” in the Justice Department. He also reportedly ordered the firing of Mueller but was thwarted when White House Counsel Don McGahn threatened to resign.

Referring to a recent column in the conservative National Review that suggested the FBI spied on his campaign, Trump on Wednesday also continued to gin up conspiracy theories that the Obama administration may have illegally surveilled him during the election. He called the theory “bigger than Watergate.”

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