President Trump said in an interview that he would let the Justice Department handle how to release the special counsel’s final report on Russian election meddling — and may ask the FBI to review its use-of-force policies after the arrest of his longtime associate.
The president’s nominee to be attorney general, William Barr, said at his recent confirmation hearing that he would allow Robert Mueller to complete the probe and pledged to publicize as many details of the findings as he can.
In an interview with the conservative website The Daily Caller on Wednesday, Trump said that when Mueller completes his probe, “they’ll have to make their decision within the Justice Department” about whether to release the report publicly.
The president added that he had “never” spoken to acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, who this week said Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign will be over soon.
“I think after almost two years it certainly should be,” Trump said.
Responding to questions about the FBI’s arrest of his confidant Roger Stone as part of the Mueller probe, Trump said he was “very disappointed” to see it “go down that way.”
“To see it happen where it was on camera, on top of it. That was a very, very disappointing scene,” he said, referring to a CNN crew that recorded the raid at Stone’s home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The TV network has insisted that they were not tipped off by the FBI or Mueller’s team — as some Trump allies have alleged.
“When you have 29 people and you have armored vehicles, and you had all of the other — you know, many people know Roger, and Roger is not a person that they would have to worry about from that standpoint,” Trump said.
When asked if it was appropriate for the FBI to raid Stone’s home in a “white-collar case,” Trump told The Caller: “I thought it was very unusual. You know, I’ve stayed out of that whole situation because there was no collusion whatsoever.”
The president also said he’ll “think about” asking the FBI to review its use of force.
Stone, 66, claimed the feds stormed his home “with greater force than was used to take down bin Laden or El Chapo or Pablo Escobar.”
The longtime GOP operative and self-proclaimed dirty trickster pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges he lied to Congress about his communications involving the stolen Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign.
Trump also suggested that authorities were wasting resources on the Mueller probe, while shortchanging other federal investigations such as the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.
“I guess they’re well over $30 million now on this Russian collusion hoax, and everybody knows it’s a hoax. They’ve spent all this money. Nothing. No phone calls, no meetings, no nothing. You look at it, and you say, isn’t that sad to have devoted this time, this energy over a — you know, look, there’s been numerous books written right now, including No. 1 best sellers, calling it a ‘hoax,’” he said.
On Tuesday, the FBI concluded its probe into the Oct. 1, 2017, massacre without finding a clear motive for Stephen Paddock’s actions in killing 58 people at the Route 91 Harvest music festival.
