President Donald Trump demanded to know Sunday when special counsel Robert Mueller was going to 'STOP!' probing into alleged Russian influence on the presidential election and turn his investigative power onto Hillary Clinton.
In a long, bitter Twitter rant the president railed against the cost of the investigation, calling it a '$20,000,000 Witch Hunt' that has found 'no Collussion with Russia, No Obstruction, but they aren't looking at the corruption in the Hillary Clinton Campaign.'
Trump's words of rage echoed the remarks of his private attorney Rudy Giuliani, who also said the investigation was a waste of $20 million during an interview with CNN on Friday, a sign the White House is working on a new coordinated attack against Mueller.
The president also slammed the makeup of Mueller's team and a couple of wealthy, well-connected Democrats who have helped the Clintons throughout their career -- former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and lobbyist/art collector Tony Podesta.
Trump's seething tweets echoed some of his past attacks on the investigation -- claiming it's a witch hunt and led by Democrats -- but the cost showcases a new argument that administration officials will likely pick up on and repeat in the coming days.
As to the cost, the president's own budget this year contained $10 million for the Mueller investigation to continue.
It seems a relatively cheap bargain compared to Ken Starr's investigation of the Clintons in the 1990s, which took six years and cost more than $70 million.
Mueller, a registered Republican who was appointed by Republican deputy attorney general Rob Rosenstein to investigate Russia's actions in the presidential election. Of the 17 team members, 13 are registered Democrats, according to reports.
Since the investigation began, Mueller has built a criminal case against Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort while former Trump deputy Rick Gates struck a plea deal in March in addition to agreeing to testify.
The investigative team has issued indictments that have covered 19 people and three businesses. Additionally, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos pled guilty to making false statements about their contacts with Russians to investigators.
The prolonged Twitter attack from the president on Sunday followed a bombshell report from the New York Times on Saturday that revealed countries other than Russia sought to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Cc:dailymail
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