EX-DOJ official says acting AG’s comments on Mueller probe wrapping were ‘amateur’

A former federal prosecutor and Justice Department official said acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker’s comments that the federal probe into election interference was almost wrapped up were “amateur” on “Rising” Wednesday.

“[It’s] sort of an amateur move on his part. He probably shouldn’t have gone there,” Elliot Williams, a former Justice official in the Obama administration, told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball on “Rising.”

“I have personally lived through an unfortunate circumstance of senior members of the Justice Department saying stuff they shouldn’t have, and this was just another example of it,” he continued.

Whitaker told reporters at a press conference on Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference is “close to being completed.”

“I hope that we can get the report from Director Mueller as soon as possible,” he said.

President Trump and his allies have been calling for Mueller to wrap up his investigation, which the president has frequently labeled a “witch hunt.”

The comments came on the heels of Roger Stone’s indictment in the probe, which accuses Stone of making false statements, engaging in witness tampering and interfering with a congressional investigation.

Stone on Tuesday plead not guilty to the charges.

— Julia Manchester