Trump suggests Mueller is trying to hurt republicans in midterms

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May 20, 2018 6:48 PM

President Donald Trump raged anew Sunday about the special counsel investigation, charging that it had turned up no evidence of collusion with Russia and was now casting a worldwide net so that it could stay active until the midterm elections and harm Republicans’ chances.

In a series of morning tweets that has become a weekend ritual for the president, Trump pointed to a New York Times report that detailed how Robert Mueller, the special counsel, is examining whether Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates offered help to the Trump campaign, and whether they coordinated with Russia in doing so.

“Things are really getting ridiculous,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “The Failing and Crooked (but not as Crooked as Hillary Clinton) @nytimes has done a long & boring story indicating that the World’s most expensive Witch Hunt has found nothing on Russia & me so now they are looking at the rest of the World!”

The president did not challenge the accuracy of The Times’ account, which was the first indication that countries other than Russia may have offered assistance to his campaign in the months before the presidential election. But he suggested that the breadth of the inquiry was proof that Mueller’s investigation was a partisan exercise geared toward harming Republican congressional candidates.

“Now that the Witch Hunt has given up on Russia and is looking at the rest of the World, they should easily be able to take it into the Mid-Term Elections where they can put some hurt on the Republican Party,” Trump said. “Don’t worry about Dems FISA Abuse, missing Emails or Fraudulent Dossier!”

Trump was alluding to his contention that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant that was granted to look at Carter Page, one of his campaign associates, was improperly obtained and based on false information provided by his political opponents, including a dossier that included salacious information about him.

Under pressure from Trump and his Republican allies in Congress, the Justice Department said in March that it would begin an investigation into the surveillance of Page. Law enforcement officials had long had concerns that Page, a former investment banker based in Moscow, was acting as a Russian agent.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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