President Trump said Friday he believes if the forthcoming report from special counsel Robert Mueller is an “honest” report, it will characterize the allegation his campaign colluded with Russia as a “hoax.”
“You know the nice part? There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. There was no anything. So that’s the nice part. There was no phone calls, no nothing,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“I won the race. Do you know why I won the race? Because I was a better candidate than she was and had nothing to do with Russia,” he added. “And everybody knows it’s a hoax. It’s one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on this country. So I look forward to seeing the report. If it’s an honest report, it will say that. If it’s not an honest report, it won’t.”
For nearly two years, Mueller has overseen the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether members of Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russia. Reports this week indicated Attorney General William Barr was preparing to announce the conclusion of Mueller’s investigation as early as next week. However, a senior Justice Department official on Friday refuted that Mueller’s report would be delivered then, according to reports.
Trump said he has not spoken with Barr about the release of the report, but said he expects to discuss it “at some point.”
The president often denounces Mueller’s probe, saying it is run by a group of “angry Democrats.” He has also referred to the investigation as a “witch hunt” and accused Mueller himself of being a “conflicted prosecutor gone rogue.”
