Donald Trump Calls Mueller’s Probe An “Attempted Coup”

President Donald Trump departed from the White House Wednesday morning for a day trip to Texas. However, prior to his departure, Trump discussed Robert Mueller‘s Russia probe with reporters, describing it as an “attempted coup.”

“It was an illegal investigation,” Trump said to reporters. “It was started illegally. Everything about it was crooked.” Trump then added how Mueller and his team “were people that truly hated” him before billing their investigation as “an attempted coup” of his position. “This was an attempted takedown of a president, and we beat them.” Since its inception nearly two years ago, Trump has derided the special counsel’s probe as a “witch hunt” and often attacked the credibility of Mueller and his team.

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Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections concluded last month when he submitted his report to the Justice Department. Attorney General William Barr issued a summary of the report, claiming Mueller’s investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” However, Barr added how Mueller’s report did not exonerate the president.

Investigators who worked on the special counsel have since claimed that Barr’s report misrepresented elements of their findings. Democrats are looking to get the full report divulged publicly, and Barr claimed on Tuesday that a redacted version of it will be presented “within a week.”

Since Barr issued his summary, Trump declared a total vindication, saying he’s exonerated and praising Mueller for acting honorably. Nevertheless, Trump is suspicious of what kickstarted Mueller’s probe, a sentiment Barr echoes and has expressed interest in investigating. Trump, however, has not seen the report nor is he interested in seeing it. “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care about the Mueller Report,” Trump said.