WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to offer his first comments on news that he is being examined for possible obstruction of justice -- an investigation he dismissed as part of the "phony" accusations of collusion between his campaign and Russia last year.
"They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story," Trump said in a tweet shortly before 7 a.m. "Nice," he added.
An hour later, Trump fired off another tweet, saying: "You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history -- led by some very bad and conflicted people!"
He did not name those people. Special counsel Robert Mueller is overseeing the investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election.
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The president also complained that the probe is unfair and wondered why the Democratic opponent he defeated wasn't getting the same scrutiny.
"Why is that Hillary Clintons family and Dems dealings with Russia are not looked at, but my non-dealings are?" he asked.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that Mueller is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether Trump attempted to obstruct justice, according to officials.
The Post reported that Mueller has requested interviews with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, National Security Agency chief Mike Rogers and Richard Ledgett, the former NSA deputy director. Recent news reports have suggested that Trump sought all three officials' help in pressuring FBI Director James Comey to drop his investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Coats met privately for more than three hours Thursday with the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting a separate investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Also, according to other officials familiar with the matter, Mueller is investigating the finances and business dealings of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser, as part of the investigation.
FBI agents and federal prosecutors have also been examining the financial dealings of other Trump associates, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Carter Page, who was listed as a foreign-policy adviser for the campaign.
"We do not know what this report refers to," said Jamie Gorelick, a lawyer for Kushner. "It would be standard practice for the special counsel to examine financial records to look for anything related to Russia. Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about Russia-related matters. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry."
The move by Mueller to investigate Trump's conduct marks a turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
On Wednesday night, a spokesman for Trump's lawyer did not rebut the notion that Trump was under examination but decried what he said were leaks that led to the story.
"The FBI leak of information regarding the president is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal," said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Marc Kasowitz, Trump's personal lawyer.
The White House has recently made a practice of referring questions related to the investigation to Trump's personal lawyer, and aides and associates have urged the president to refrain from commenting on the case on Twitter.
Trump, who celebrated his 71st birthday Wednesday, refrained from commenting until Thursday morning.
Trump allies rap Mueller
Trump's tweets are the latest attacks on the leader of an investigation that he insists is unnecessary and distracting. All week, some of Trump's most ardent defenders, including his son Donald Trump Jr., his White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and friend and occasional adviser Newt Gingrich have questioned the probe in similar ways.
Gingrich, the former House speaker whose wife is seeking Senate approval to become the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, continued to defend Trump Thursday morning. He wrote in multiple social media posts that he views Mueller -- a long-serving former FBI director respected by both parties -- as leading a biased probe with the singular aim of dislodging Trump.
"Mueller is setting up a dragnet of obstruction, financial questions and every aspect of Trump's life and his associates lives," Gingrich wrote on Twitter, adding "very dangerous."
Just a few weeks ago, Gingrich was praising Mueller as a man of integrity. Gingrich said in an interview this week that his feelings about him began to change after Comey, who was fired by Trump, testified to a Senate panel that he had leaked his personal memos in order to trigger the appointment of a special counsel.
Mueller's friendship with Comey and Mueller's selection of several investigators who have made campaign donations to Democrats are among the matters Gingrich is raising as troubling.
The former speaker said Trump called him Monday night and that the two discussed Gingrich's concerns.
Christopher Ruddy, a longtime friend of Trump's, had said publicly that Trump was considering terminating Mueller. Ruddy said the president believed that Mueller had conflicts of interest that should have made him ineligible to lead the investigation.
Ruddy said in a PBS interview that Mueller's previous law firm represents some members of Trump's family. And he revealed that Trump had interviewed Mueller to replace Comey as FBI director the day before Mueller was selected to serve as special counsel.
Comey testified last week that he also felt pressured to drop the Flynn probe. Comey said he believes that Trump ultimately fired him "because of the Russia investigation."
The former FBI director documented his conversations with Trump in a series of personal memos, and CNN is suing the Justice Department for copies of the memos.
Details from some memos were made public in news media accounts in the days after he was fired, and Comey himself detailed his conversations with Trump at a Senate hearing last week.
The lawsuit said CNN asked for the memos on May 16 in a Freedom of Information Act request, but said the FBI had not turned them over yet even though the Justice Department's Office of Information had granted a request for expedited processing.
In its complaint, CNN argues that the "urgency and national public importance" in releasing those memos is "unquestionable."
"As of the date of this filing, the FBI has not provided any substantive response to CNN," says the lawsuit, which is dated Thursday. "It has not produced any of the requested records."
The Associated Press has requested the same records. The FBI has responded by saying that it has received that request.
As Comey remains a linchpin in the investigation, Russian President Vladimir Putin joked that he's willing to offer the former FBI director asylum, comparing him to Edward Snowden, the ex-NSA contractor who took refuge in Russia after being accused in the U.S. of leaking classified information.
Comey's decision to release records of his conversations with Trump to the media is "very strange," Putin said during his annual call-in show Thursday, in a response to a question from a factory executive from the southern city of Volgograd concerning Comey's Senate testimony.
It's very bizarre "when head of an intelligence service makes a record of his conversation with the commander in chief and then leaks this conversation to the media via a friend," Putin said. "How then is the director of the FBI different from Mr. Snowden? Then he's not a head of an intelligence service, he's a human-rights activist."
The Russian president added facetiously that his country is ready to offer Comey asylum if he's prosecuted in the U.S. "He should know this."
Pence hires attorney
Separately, Vice President Mike Pence hired a personal lawyer to represent him in the intensifying investigation. Pence's office confirmed that he had retained Richard Cullen, a former Virginia attorney general and U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to assist "in responding to inquiries."
"I can confirm that the Vice President has retained Richard Cullen of McGuire Woods to assist him in responding to inquiries by the special counsel," said Jarrod Agen, a Pence spokesman, in an emailed statement. "The Vice President is focused entirely on his duties and promoting the President's agenda and looks forward to a swift conclusion of this matter."
Cullen will not be paid with taxpayer money, an aide said. Cullen referred questions to the vice president's office.
The vice president's office said Pence's decision to retain Cullen underscores his desire to fully cooperate with any inquiries related to the Russia probe, and is in line with what Trump has done in hiring Kasowitz.
Cullen was nominated for the U.S. attorney post by President George H. W. Bush and worked on President George W. Bush's legal team during the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election.
Information for this article was contributed by John Wagner, Sari Horwitz, Matt Zapotosky, Adam Entous, Ashley Parker, Devlin Barrett and Alice Crites of The Washington Post; by Vivian Salama, Mary Clare Jalonick, Julie Bykowicz and staff members of The Associated Press; by Michael D. Shear of The New York Times; and by Henry Meyer, Stepan Kravchenko and Ilya Arkhipov of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 06/16/2017
