Trump offers mixed messages on Russia after Mueller attack

The US president also offered mixed messages on Russia’s efforts to help him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign.

Mr Trump tweeted he had “nothing to do with Russia helping me get elected”.

This was the first time he seemed to acknowledge that Russia tried to help his campaign.

Then, on the White House South Lawn, Mr Trump told reporters: “Russia did not help me get elected. You know who got me elected? You know who got me elected? I got me elected. Russia didn’t help me at all.”

Mr Mueller’s report said Russia interfered in the election in hopes of getting Mr Trump into the White House, but his findings and intelligence officials have stopped short of saying the efforts contributed to Mr Trump’s victory.

Mr Trump’s 20-minute eruption underlined that he remains deeply distressed over the probe that has shadowed his presidency for nearly two years, even after Mr Mueller announced his resignation and the closure of his office. Democrats are considering the possibility of impeachment proceedings.

Mr Trump insisted that he has been tough on Russia and that Moscow would have preferred Mrs Clinton as president.

However, that is not what Russian president Vladimir Putin has said. When asked last year in Helsinki whether he wanted Mr Trump to become president, Mr Putin replied: “Yes, I did.”

On Wednesday, Mr Mueller, in his first public remarks on the Russia investigation, pointedly rejected Mr Trump’s claims – repeated almost daily – that the special counsel’s investigation cleared him of criminal activity and was a “witch hunt”.

Mr Mueller emphasised that he had not exonerated Mr Trump on the question of whether he obstructed justice, but said charging the president with any crime was “not an option” because of US justice department rules.

“If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mr Mueller declared.

US attorney general William Barr said Mr Mueller could have reached a decision on whether the president obstructed justice.

Mr Barr said in an interview with CBS This Morning that though justice department rules prevent the indictment of a sitting president, Mr Mueller nonetheless could have decided whether Mr Trump had committed a crime.

Mr Trump repeated his baseless claims that Mr Mueller is “conflicted”, contending that the special counsel, who served as FBI director under former president George W Bush, wanted his old job back, but that he had told him no.

He said Mr Mueller, a Republican, was “a true never Trumper” and “didn’t get a job that he wanted very badly”.

Mr Mueller had been considered for the FBI director position shortly before being named as special counsel.

Then-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said that while the White House had invited Mr Mueller to speak to the president about the FBI and thought about asking him to become director again, Mr Mueller did not come in looking for a job.

Mr Trump also said Mr Mueller should have investigated law enforcement officials who the president claims tried to undermine him.

Mr Mueller’s mandate, however, was to investigate Russian election interference, possible coordination with the Trump campaign and any obstruction of that investigation.

Among those whom Mr Trump says should have been investigated were members of the special counsel’s own team, including Peter Strzok, a former FBI agent who helped lead the investigation and exchanged anti-Trump text messages during the 2016 election with ex-FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

Mr Strzok was removed from Mr Mueller’s investigative team following the discovery of the texts and later was fired from the FBI.

Ms Page has left the bureau. Mr Strzok told US congress that there was “no conspiracy” at the FBI to prevent Mr Trump from becoming president.

Mr Trump, when asked about impeachment by congress, called it a “dirty word” and said he could not imagine the courts allowing him to be impeached.

“I don’t think so because there’s no crime,” he said.

Mr Mueller made clear that his team never considered indicting Mr Trump because the justice department prohibits the prosecution of a sitting president. He and others have indicated that the next move, if any, is up to US congress, which has the power of impeachment.

Mr Trump has blocked US house committees’ subpoenas and other efforts to dig into the Trump-Russia issue, insisting Mr Mueller’s report has settled everything.