World– Trump urges US attorney general to end Russia probe

August 1, 2018

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation immediately, escalating his attacks on the inquiry.

“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,” Trump tweeted.

“Bob Mueller is totally conflicted and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!”

The tweet came as Trump’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort, who was earlier indicted by the special counsel, faces trial for the second day in federal court in Virginia.

Sessions, however, already recused himself last year — handing off oversight to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. So he is unlikely to act, CNBC reported.

The President has criticized Sessions for his recusal. In June, Trump said on Twitter that Mueller was continuing to investigate “all because Jeff Sessions didn’t tell me he was going to recuse himself”.

“I would have quickly picked someone else. So much time and money wasted, so many lives ruined…and Sessions knew better than most that there was No Collusion.”

The Justice Department and the office of the special counsel did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for elaboration on the President’s comments.

Mueller was investigating Trump’s tweets criticizing Sessions as part of a wider inquiry into whether the President has obstructed justice, the New York Times earlier reported.

Trump’s attacks on Mueller have escalated in recent weeks. The President’s attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, made headlines on Monday saying that “collusion is not a crime”.
(IANS)