President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that if he wanted to he could take over the special counsel’s Russia investigation into possible collusion and election interference which he has often dubbed a “rigged witch hunt.”
“I can go in, and I could do whatever — I could run it if I want,” the President said. “But I decided to stay out. I’m totally allowed to be involved if I wanted to be. So far, I haven’t chosen to be involved. I’ll stay out.”
Trump’s comments referred to the fact that he has executive authority to order Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to dismiss or replace special counsel Robert Mueller.
The President then went on to comment that it would not be a good idea for him to sit for an interview with Mueller as he could be exposed to charges of perjury even if he told the truth.
“So if I say something and [former FBI Director James Comey] says something, and it’s my word against his, and he’s best friends with Mueller, so Mueller might say: ‘Well, I believe Comey,’ and even if I’m telling the truth, that makes me a liar,” Trump noted.
His remarks echoed that of his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who on Monday had to defend his previous comment that “truth isn’t truth,” explaining that what he meant was that prosecutors can bring perjury charges even against an honest witness. The former New York City mayor further maintained that the special counsel was trying to cause political damage for Trump, despite prosecutors saying otherwise.
“They’re trying to run this right up until the election,” Giuliani said. “They’re trying to do the same thing Comey did — they’re trying to be the judge and jury of the 2018 election,” he added, before calling the investigation a “travesty.”
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