President Trump on Wednesday called the probe into Russian election meddling “an attempted coup” that amounted to “treason” in his harshest language yet targeting special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
“This was an attempted coup. This was an attempted takedown of a president, and we beat them. We beat them. We fight back, and you know why we fight back? Because I knew how illegal this whole thing was. It was a scam,” the president said outside the White House before boarding Marine One for the first leg of a fundraising trip to Texas.
It was apparently the first time Trump had used the word “coup” to describe the nearly two-year investigation, though his surrogates have made the charge in the past.
The president then called for Attorney General William Barr to investigate the origins of the probe, which he has repeatedly claimed was a “hoax” and “Witch Hunt!” cooked up by Hillary Clinton and her supposed “deep state” supporters in the Justice Department — saying there was “a hunger” in the country to pursue that probe.
“What I’m most interested in is getting started hopefully, the attorney general, he mentioned it yesterday. He is doing a great job getting started on going back to the origins of exactly where this all started because this was an illegal witch hunt, and everybody knew it,” he asserted, before apparently accusing Mueller and his team of treason.
“They knew it, too. And they got caught, and what they did was treason. What they did was terrible. What they did was against our Constitution and everything we stand for. So, hopefully, that will happen,” the president continued.
“There is a hunger for that to happen in this country like I have never seen before, including all of the millions of people that voted for me. What they did is disgraceful,” Trump said.
“It was an illegal investigation. It was started illegally. Everything about it was crooked. Every single thing about it.”
Mueller gave his nearly 400-page report to Barr last month, and the attorney general released a four-page summary that the White house said totally exonerated the president from collusion or obstruction allegations.
Democrats have said not so fast, and want to see the full report, which Barr has said would not happen.
Instead, he told lawmakers Tuesday he would issue a redacted report within a week.