President Trump on Friday morning claimed it’s “commonly agreed” he didn’t collude with Russia during the 2016 election, instead accusing Hillary Clinton of working with the Kremlin.
“It is now commonly agreed, after many months of COSTLY looking, that there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump,” the president tweeted. “Was collusion with HC!”
The assertion comes amid an ongoing probe by special counsel Robert Mueller into whether Trump campaign officials worked with Russia to sway the 2016 election. That probe has also expanded into whether Trump attempted to obstruct justice in the investigation.
Numerous investigations have been opened surrounding Russia’s meddling in the election, including probes by the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Trump’s claim follow a report by The Daily Beast on Wednesday that the data firm that worked for Trump’s campaign reached out to WikiLeaks about Clinton’s missing emails. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange confirmed the interaction after the story was published.
Republicans in recent days have seized on the news first reported by The Washington Post that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) paid millions for a dossier of scandalous accusations about Trump and his ties to Russia.
Trump lashed out at the “fake dossier” on Wednesday, saying it is a cornerstone of “the whole Russia hoax.”
Former and current DNC leaders Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Tom Perez have said they had no knowledge of the payment for the dossier, and Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta reportedly said the same.