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| Trump assails 'totally conflicted' Robert Mueller | Trump assails 'totally conflicted' Robert Mueller |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| US President Donald Trump has launched a fierce personal attack on former special counsel Robert Mueller, describing him as "totally conflicted". | US President Donald Trump has launched a fierce personal attack on former special counsel Robert Mueller, describing him as "totally conflicted". |
| He said the man who led the inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election had "wanted to be the FBI director, and I said 'no'". | He said the man who led the inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election had "wanted to be the FBI director, and I said 'no'". |
| The president also claimed the two had had a "business dispute". | |
| On Wednesday, Mr Mueller reiterated that his inquiry did not exonerate Mr Trump of obstruction of justice. | On Wednesday, Mr Mueller reiterated that his inquiry did not exonerate Mr Trump of obstruction of justice. |
| Prominent US Democrats called for the impeachment of the Republican president following Mr Mueller's comments. | Prominent US Democrats called for the impeachment of the Republican president following Mr Mueller's comments. |
| At the White House on Thursday morning, Mr Trump said impeachment was a "dirty, filthy disgusting word". | At the White House on Thursday morning, Mr Trump said impeachment was a "dirty, filthy disgusting word". |
| He said Mr Mueller was a "true Never Trumper", referring to his Republican critics during the 2016 White House race, and that his investigation was "a giant presidential harassment". | He said Mr Mueller was a "true Never Trumper", referring to his Republican critics during the 2016 White House race, and that his investigation was "a giant presidential harassment". |
| In a tweet earlier on Thursday, Mr Trump wrote that the special counsel "would have brought charges" if investigators had had "anything", but that "there were no charges to bring". | |
| In Mr Mueller's press conference on Wednesday - the first and only public comments he has made in two-year investigation - the former FBI director said that charging a sitting president with a crime "is not an option" due to a long-standing US Department of Justice policy. | |
| As he prepared to board a helicopter to Colorado, Mr Trump continued the attack, saying "Mueller should have never been chosen". | |
| "He wanted the FBI job and didn't get it and then was picked as special counsel," he said. | |
| He also referred to the special counsel's team of investigators as "some of the worst human beings on Earth". | |
| In a tweet earlier in the day, Mr Trump seemed to say for the first time that Moscow had played a role in helping him to get elected, while disavowing his own involvement. | |
| "Russia, Russia, Russia! That's all you heard at the beginning of this Witch Hunt Hoax... And now Russia has disappeared because I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected," he wrote. | |
| But on the White House lawn, he said: "No, Russia did not help me get elected. You know who got me elected? I got me elected. Russia didn't help me at all." |