WASHINGTON — President Trump indirectly criticized Robert Mueller, the special counsel, on Wednesday for the ongoing investigation into Russia’s 2016 campaign meddling, even as a former CIA director said during a morning news show that President Vladimir Putin of Russia may have compromising information on Trump.
After a weekend of attacking Mueller — against the advice of his own lawyers — Trump picked up again in early morning tweets when he said he was quoting a former Harvard professor stating that Mueller should never have been appointed to be the special counsel to investigate Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. That investigation has expanded into inquiries into Trump’s aides and his own business dealings.
“I was opposed to the selection of Mueller to be Special Council,’’ Trump attributed in a Twitter post to a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, Alan Dershowitz.
It was not immediately clear Wednesday which remarks of Dershowitz’s the president was quoting. An interview with Dershowitz on Fox News on Tuesday and an opinion piece by Dershowitz published Wednesday did not include the exact phrasing that Trump used in his tweets. And the language was not found in a search of Dershowitz’s cable news appearances over the past week.
Separately, on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,’’ John Brennan, a former CIA director, speculated that the Russians “may have something on him personally,’’ referring to Trump.
Brennan was the CIA director when a salacious dossier surfaced in 2016 that claimed the Russians had compromising information on Trump. There has been no proof that such material exists, but Trump’s affection for the Russian leader has raised questions about the nature of their relationship.
On Tuesday, Trump congratulated Putin on his reelection and made no mention of the election meddling. Trump has routinely issued statements about Russia and Putin that sound at odds with his own advisers and administration actions.
“I think he’s afraid of the president of Russia,’’ said Brennan, now retired from government service and a critic of Trump.
On Saturday, Brennan attacked Trump on Twitter after the president tweeted about his excitement over the firing of the deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe.
“When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,’’ Brennan wrote.
Mueller has accused 13 Russians and three companies of election meddling. Three of Trump’s former associates have pleaded guilty as part of the ongoing inquiry. Last week, the special counsel issued subpoenas for the Trump organization, seeking documents including some related to Russia.
Trump has consistently called the investigation into Russia’s meddling a “hoax.’’
The tempest over Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin quickly intensified Wednesday into an uproar over White House leaks, sparking an internal investigation and speculation over who might be the next person Trump forces out of the West Wing.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
