President Trump suggested on Saturday that “collusion” now appears to be “dead.”
Reiterating his prior denials that he worked with the Russians during the 2016 election, Trump told reporters during a media availability at Camp David: “I guess the collusion now is dead, because everyone found out after a year of study there’s been absolutely no collusion. There’s been no collusion between us and the Russians.”
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He added that “in theory, everybody tells me I’m not under investigation” in response to a question about whether he was committed to speaking with the special counsel if asked.
President Trump on if he would be committed to speaking with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's committee, if asked: “There has been no collusion. There has been no crime. And in theory, everybody tells me, I'm not under investigation.” https://t.co/Wh1BDY3wJ1 pic.twitter.com/GqPoEuHfW0— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 6, 2018
Trump and his team are being looked at as part of a wide-ranging investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller’s probe, along with several congressional committee investigations, are looking at Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between the Trump camp and the Kremlin.
The inquiry has led to indictments and guilty pleas from multiple former Trump officials so far, and on Saturday, it was reported for the first time that Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump was being looked at by Mueller’s team.
But Trump, flanked by Republicans congressional leaders and members of his Cabinet, deflected any concern about the inquiry and referred to his Democratic rival in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, as someone who possibly is facing charges for collusion with the Russians – an accusation he made on Friday.
“Maybe Hillary is, I don’t know, but I’m not,” he said Saturday.
This past week, it was reported that the Justice Department has reopened its investigation into Clinton’s unauthorized private email server and that the FBI has opened a new inquiry into the Clinton Foundation.
Trump also took a swipe at the recent report by the New York Times, which said he directed White House counsel Don McGahn to bar Attorney General Jeff Sessions from recusing himself from the Justice Department’s Russia inquiry, calling it “way off.”
“Everything that I’ve done is 100 percent proper, Trump stressed, before saying he stands by Sessions.
