Trump claims DOJ report ‘exonerates me’
President Trump on Friday said a report by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog “totally exonerates” him of any wrongdoing.
“I think that the report yesterday — maybe more importantly than anything — it totally exonerates me. There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. And if you read the report, you’ll see that,” the president told reporters outside of the White House.
His comments come after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Thursday released a report criticizing the FBI’s conduct during the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server and the 2016 presidential election.
The Justice inspector general report faulted former FBI Director James Comey for his decisionmaking during the investigation.
Comey was found to have dramatically departed from FBI guidelines by holding a press conference critical of Clinton when he announced the FBI would not bring charges against her for mishandling classified information, and for essentially reopening the probe days before the 2016 presidential election.
Democrats have blamed Comey’s actions for Clinton’s defeat.
{mosads}Trump has long pushed back against any accusations of wrongdoing in the special counsel’s probe into Russian election meddling and any potential ties between his campaign staff members and the Kremlin.
Trump insisted the report shows “bias” against him and his supporters.
“What you’ll really see is you’ll see bias against me and millions and tens of millions of my followers that is really a disgrace,” he said Friday.
“And yet if you look at the FBI and you went in and you polled the FBI — the real FBI — those guys love me and I love them,” Trump added.
The president also took to Twitter early Friday to vent his frustrations with the FBI, saying that the report is “a total disaster” for Comey, whom Trump dismissed last May.
“The IG Report is a total disaster for Comey, his minions and sadly, the FBI. Comey will now officially go down as the worst leader, by far, in the history of the FBI,” the president wrote on Twitter.
“I did a great service to the people in firing him. Good Instincts. Christopher Wray will bring it proudly back!” he added, referring to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
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