President Trump on Wednesday touted that he has the power to fire all the individuals tied to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election interference, while noting that he doesn’t want to stop the probe.
“I could fire everybody right now, but I don’t want to stop it because politically I don’t like stopping it,” Trump said during a sprawling press conference at the White House one day after the midterm elections.
“It’s a disgrace. It should have never been started because there was no crime,” Trump added.
Trump has long ripped the probe as a waste of time and a “witch hunt,” claiming there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia, but has faced pressure to not try to bring the investigation to an end.{mosads}
“I stay away from it, but you know what I do? I let it just go on. They’re wasting a lot of money, but I let it go on because I don’t want to do that,” Trump said Wednesday. “It’s a disgrace, frankly, and it’s an embarrassment to our country.”
Mueller’s team has indicted or secured guilty pleas from 32 people and companies as part of the investigation.
Trump’s remarks come as the special counsel appears to be zeroing in on longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, with speculation building that Mueller could make moves now that the midterm elections have concluded.
The president’s claims of power over the fate of the officials leading the high-profile investigation come after he suffered a major setback on Tuesday with Democrats seizing control of the House.
Trump, however, downplayed the loss in the lower chamber on Wednesday, stating that he feels pleased with the results in the Senate, while also knocking the GOP members who failed to “embrace” him.