President Donald Trump criticized the forthcoming report from special counsel Robert Muller’s team examining the role of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
When Mueller does his final report, will he be covering all of his conflicts of interest in a preamble, will he be recommending action on all of the crimes of many kinds from those “on the other side”(whatever happened to Podesta?), and will he be putting in statements from…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018
….hundreds of people closely involved with my campaign who never met, saw or spoke to a Russian during this period? So many campaign workers, people inside from the beginning, ask me why they have not been called (they want to be). There was NO Collusion & Mueller knows it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018
Trump’s tweets come just days after his legal team submitted written answers to Mueller’s team concerning Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“The questions presented dealt with issues regarding the Russia-related topics of the inquiry. The President responded in writing,” presidential lawyer Jay Sekulow said in a statement to reporters last week.
Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speaks at the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS) on August 8, 2013 in New York City. The ICCS, which is co-hosted by Fordham University and the FBI, is held every 18 months; more than 25 countries are represented at this year’s conference. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
Trump’s submitted questions likely mark the ending of the nearly two-year special counsel investigation, with a hotly anticipated report on his findings.
The report will first be submitted to the Department of Justice, which is currently being overseen by Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. Whitaker will then make a decision on how and when to release the report to Congress.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker speaks to state and local law enforcement on efforts to combat violent crime and the opioid crisis in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Scott Morgan
The president’s critics have long alleged that Trump or his team of advisors colluded with the Russian government to influence the election. Mueller and his team originally sought to interview the president in a sit-down setting, a request his legal team rebuffed.
The refusal launched speculation as to whether Mueller would attempt to subpoena the president, though past legal guidance indicated that it was not possible to do so to the chief executive.
Trump has maintained staunchly that there was no collusion, and his team points to the lack of charges of any 2016 campaign official for the offense. Mueller’s team has expended much of its resources going after former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort for illegal business dealings with the Ukrainian government years earlier and indicted some top-ranking officials for lying to the FBI.