DONALD Trump thought the appointment of special counsel to look into alleged Russian interference in the American election was the end of his presidency, it emerged yesterday.
In most unpresidential language, Donald exclaimed that the appointment of Robert Mueller meant just one thing: “I’m f*****.”
The revelation was contained in the Mueller Report that was published yesterday. Its main allegation is that Trump tried to have Mueller removed from the job of investigating him.
The report noted that when the then Attorney General Jeff Sessions told the president about his decision to appoint Mueller as special counsel in May 2017, Trump was furious.
He responded: “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m f******.”
Mueller added: “The president became angry and lambasted the attorney general for his decision to recuse from the investigation, stating, ‘How could you let this happen, Jeff?’ The president said the position of attorney general was his most important appointment and that Sessions had ‘let [him] down’, contrasting him to Eric Holder and Robert Kennedy. Sessions recalled that the president said to him, ‘you were supposed to protect me’, or words to that effect.”
According to Mueller, Trump then said: “Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won’t be able to do anything.
“This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
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Mueller’s report came from notes taken at the time by Sessions’s chief of staff. The White House has not confirmed the exchange nor has the Trump administration explained why the president thought Mueller would end his presidency.
The revelation was one of many explosive matters in the Mueller Report. It’s very release yesterday has already caused huge divisions in the US, not least because Trump’s appointee as attorney general, William Barr, appeared to be partisan in defending the president.
Trump claimed again that the report had cleared him, tweeting yet again “no obstruction, no collusion”.
Barr confirmed that there was no criminal element in the Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia.
The Democrats who now control the House of Representatives had hoped Mueller might find evidence of criminality, such as obstruction of justice, but Barr said there was none.
However, Trump’s opponents seized on this Mueller conclusion: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.
“Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
The report also indicated that the president dictated a misleading response as to what the June 2016 meeting between Russian intermediaries and Trump campaign officials in Trump Tower was about.
The special counsel considered charging the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, and son-in-law Jared Kushner in regards to that meeting, but did not think they could meet the Department of Justice’s burden of proof
At a press conference before publication, Barr spoke of Trump’s discontent with the probe.
He said: “The president was frustrated and angered by a sincere belief that the investigation was undermining his presidency, propelled by his political opponents, and fuelled by illegal leaks.”
Trump’s legal team earlier described the report as a “total victory” before the president gave his first reaction at a meeting in the White House with injured veterans.
“They’re having a good day, I’m having a good day too. It’s called no collusion, no obstruction,” Trump said.
“We do have to get to the bottom of these things, I will say. And this should never happen.
“This should never happen to another president again, this hoax. It should never happen to another president again. Thank you.”
Despite Mueller specifically stating the president was not exonerated, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement: “President Trump has been fully and completely exonerated yet again.
“Now the tables have turned, and it’s time to investigate the liars who instigated this sham investigation into President Trump, motivated by political retribution and based on no evidence whatsoever.”
The Democrats in Congress are furious that the report has been redacted. Representative Jerry Nadler confirmed that the House Committee on the Judiciary had already issued an invitation to Mueller to appear “as soon as possible”.
He tweeted: “We cannot take Attorney General Barr’s word for it. We must read the full Mueller report, and the underlying evidence. This is about transparency and ensuring accountability.”
There are currently at least eight inquiries into Trump and his associates.
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