Donald Trump calls for end to Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in US election; White House says it's not an order

US President Donald Trump today expressed his frustration over the ongoing probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections and asked his Attorney General Jeff Sessions to stop the “witch-hunt”, a day after his former campaign chairman went on trial.

Mueller, a former FBI director, is investigating whether the Trump camgain aided or abetted an attempt by Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election, or tried to cover up the conspiracy. In a series of tweets, the US President asserted that neither he nor his campaign had any collusion with the Russians, and allegations in this regard was a total hoax. “This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this rigged witch hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. “Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!” Trump tweeted.

Russian Collusion with the Trump Campaign, one of the most successful in history, is a TOTAL HOAX. The Democrats paid for the phony and discredited Dossier which was, along with Comey, McCabe, Strzok and his lover, the lovely Lisa Page, used to begin the Witch Hunt. Disgraceful!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018

Tuesday was the first day of his former campaign head Paul Manafort’s trial on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud which were brought by Mueller’s team. The charges stemmed from Manafort’s consulting work from Ukraine for which he allegedly received millions which he did not report to the US government.

“Looking back on history, who was treated worse, Alfonse Capone, legendary mob boss, killer and “public enemy number one,” or Paul Manafort, political operative & Reagan/Dole darling, now serving solitary confinement - although convicted of nothing? Where is the Russian collusion?” he asked. “We already have a smoking gun about a campaign getting dirt on their opponent, it was Hillary Clinton. How is it okay for Hillary Clinton to proactively seek dirt from the Russians but the Trump campaign met at the Russians request and that is bad?” Marc Thiessen, Washington Post,” he tweeted. He said that FBI Agent Peter Strzok (on the Mueller team) should have recused himself on day one.

“FBI Agent Peter Strzok (on the Mueller team) should have recused himself on day one. He was out to STOP THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP. He needed an insurance policy. Those are illegal, improper goals, trying to influence the Election. He should never, ever been allowed to........

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018

“He should never, ever been allowed to remain in the FBI while he himself was being investigated. This is a real issue. It won’t go into a Mueller Report because Mueller is going to protect these guys. Mueller has an interest in creating the illusion of objectivity around his investigation,” he said.

However, the White House has said Trump’s tweets are his opinion and not an order. “It’s not an order. It’s the president’s opinion, and it’s ridiculous that all of the corruption and dishonesty that’s gone on with the launching of the witch-hunt the president has watched this process play out, but he also wants to see it come to an end as he stated many times and I we look forward to that,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily news conference on Wednesday.

By making such a tweet, Sanders argued that Trump is not indulging in obstruction of justice. “The president is not obstructing; he’s fighting back. The president is stating his opinion, he’s stating it clearly, and he’s certainly expressing the frustration that he has with the level of corruption that we’ve seen from people like Jim Comey, Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe,” she said. “There’s a reason that the president’s angry and, frankly, most of America is angry as well, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to voice that opinion,” Sanders said in response to a question.

“We certainly think it should be completed. We’d like it to be completed sooner rather than later. It’s gone on for an extensive amount of time. They’ve still come up with nothing in regards to the president. We’d like to see it come to a close,” she said. The entire investigation is based on “a dirty, discredited dossier” that was paid for by an opposing campaign, and had a lot of corruption within the entity which was overseeing it, which was Strzok, Comey and McCabe, she alleged.

With inputs from PTI