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Trump Suggests That Special Counsel Robert Mueller Should Recuse Himself, Friendship With Comey ‘Bothersome’

By JohnThomas Didymus
Published on: 01:28 PST, Jun 23, 2017

President Donald Trump has suggested in an interview with Fox & Friends that special counsel Robert Mueller should recuse himself from ongoing investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian agents and whether Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey.

Trump indicated that he believes Mueller should recuse himself during a Friday morning appearance on Fox & Friends. Trump told Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt that the Justice Department’s investigation into allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia, and allegations of obstruction of justice, was “ridiculous.” He also suggested that Mueller, who was FBI director under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, might not be the right person to conduct the investigation because he is close friends with the former FBI director James Comey, who Trump recently fired. He described the alleged friendship between former FBI director James Comey and special counsel Robert Mueller as “very bothersome.”

“Robert Mueller is an honorable man and hopefully he’ll come up with an honorable conclusion,” Trump said.

However, Trump went on to claim that Mueller and Comey were “very, very good friends,” and described the alleged relationship as “very bothersome.”

“He’s very good friends with Comey, which is very bothersome.”

Trump also alleged that Mueller has been hiring Hillary Clinton supporters to join his team of investigators.

“I can say that the people that have been hired are all Hillary Clinton supporters,” he continued. “Some of them worked for Hillary Clinton — I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous, if you want to know the truth from that standpoint.”

When Earhardt asked whether Trump thought that Mueller should recuse himself from the investigation, Trump implied it was possible.

“Well he’s very, very good friends with Comey, which is very bothersome,” he said. “We’re going to have to see.”

Trump’s response suggests that his administration is considering putting pressure on Mueller to recuse himself from the DoJ investigation. His comments also reflect arguments being pushed by his supporters and political allies to explain why Mueller should recuse himself. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recently described Mueller as the “tip of a deep state spear aimed” at Trump.

During an appearance on Fox News on Saturday, Gingrich argued that “to the degree that Comey’s involved, Mueller, in theory, should recuse himself.”

Trump had also taken to Twitter to complain that the investigations by the FBI and Congress into allegations of improper links with Russia and possible obstruction of justice constituted “the single greatest Witch hunt in American political history.” He also complained that the investigations were being led by “some very bad and conflicted people.”

Trump has insisted consistently and vehemently that he has no ties to Russia and that the allegations being promoted in the media are “fake news.”

“There’s been no collusion, no obstruction and virtually everybody agrees to that, so we’ll have to see,” Trump said. “[But] I can say that the people that have been hired were all Hillary Clinton supporters.”

Trump’s appearance on Fox News came a day after he admitted on Twitter that he had not taped his conversations with Comey as he previously claimed. He said he made the suggestion as a way of ensuring that Comey did not misrepresent their private conversations.

[Featured Image by Alex Brandon/AP Images]

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