WASHINGTON (TNS) President Donald Trump on Friday claimed he has never discussed Special Counsel Robert S. Muellers investigation into Russias 2016 election meddling and possible coordination with his campaign with Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
I didnt speak to Matt Whitaker about the ongoing Justice Department probe before he named the former U.S. attorney during the George W. Bush administration as DOJs acting leader.
It remains unclear whether the president knew about Whitakers past critical comments about Muellers before he fired Jeff Session as the countrys top attorney and law enforcement official and replaced him, for now, with his chief of staff.
Democratic lawmakers are warning Trumps removal of Sessions is a move against Mueller, and they say that would trigger a constitutional crisis.
Should Trump consider the acting AG as his nominee to replace Sessions permanently, Whitakers Mueller probe views could hinder a potential nomination since a few moderate Republican senators who support allowing the special counsel to finish his work.
It does not take a lawyer or even a former federal prosecutor like myself to conclude that investigating Donald Trumps finances or his familys finances falls completely outside of the realm of his 2016 campaign and allegations that the campaign coordinated with the Russian government or anyone else, he wrote in a 2017 CNN op-ed.
I dont know Whitaker, Trump claimed on the White Houses South Lawn as he left for a weekend visit to Paris.
