Donald Trump lashes out at Robert Mueller after special counsel rejects president’s exoneration claims
- US leader calls Mueller a ‘never Trumper’, says he was appointed special counsel after failing to get back his old job as FBI director
- Trump also sent mixed messages on Russia’s efforts to help him defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016 election, seeming to confirm, then deny it happened
US President Donald Trump assailed Robert Mueller as a “never Trumper” and a rejected, conflicted jobseeker on Thursday, a day after the special counsel bluntly rebuffed Trump’s repeated claims that the Russia investigation had cleared him of committing a federal crime of obstruction of justice.
The president also offered mixed messages on Russia’s efforts to help him defeat rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election campaign.
First Trump tweeted that he had “nothing to do with Russia helping me get elected”. That was the first time he seemed to acknowledge that Russia worked to see him elected – something that was underscored in Mueller’s report.
Then on the White House south lawn, Trump told reporters: “Russia did not help me get elected. You know who got me elected? You know who got me elected? I got me elected. Russia didn’t help me at all.”
Trump insisted that he has been tough on Russia and that Moscow would have preferred Clinton as president. That is not what Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.