Trump warns he might involve himself in Russia probe
Washington : US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that “at some point (he) will have no choice” but to involve himself in the Russia probe, which he has repeatedly called a “witch hunt”.
“At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!” said Trump in a Wednesday morning Twitter post.
The President insisted that the investigation is “A Rigged System – They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal ‘justice?'” in the same tweet.
Several Republican lawmakers have criticized the Department of Justice, especially Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has refused to turn over documents to Congress that allegedly show anti-Trump bias among some senior government officials, Efe reported.
In another tweet, Trump called any investigation into possible obstruction of justice a “setup and trap”, claiming once again that there had been no wrongdoing by people involved in his 2016 campaign for office.
According to a report by The Washington Post, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is heading the independent Russia probe, told Trump’s legal team that he might subpoena the President to testify if he refused to cooperate with the investigation into cooperation between his 2016 presidential campaign and the Kremlin.
Mueller issued the warning during a meeting with Trump’s attorneys on March 5, as four people with knowledge of the meeting revealed to the capital daily on condition of anonymity.
In addition, on Monday The New York Times published a non-verbatim list — allegedly derived from the notes of one of those present — of 49 questions that Mueller provided to Trump’s lawyers in March and said he wanted to ask the president under oath.
The questions cover a series of matters that Mueller has delved into during his investigation, which in May will have been under way for a year, although some of them were focused on Trump’s decisions and actions that could be deemed obstruction of justice.
In addition, about 10 of the questions concern the potential links of Trump and his entourage with Russia during the campaign.
Despite that, Trump wrongly tweeted on Tuesday that none of the leaked questions deal with any alleged “collusion” between his campaign and Russia.
Published on: May 3, 2018 at 02:01 IST
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