WASHINGTON — Pushing back against the accelerating criminal investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia, President Trump argued Sunday that its focus should instead be on his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, even as the special counsel’s inquiry was reportedly poised to produce its first indictment.
In a series of tweets, Trump said Republicans were now fighting the Russia allegations by looking into Clinton, apparently referring to new House investigations into her e-mail practices and an Obama-era uranium deal with Russia. But the president made it clear he believed that Clinton should be pursued more forcefully, writing, “DO SOMETHING!’’
He did not specify who should take action or what it should be, though critics have accused him of trying to sway the congressional and special counsel inquiries into Russian ties. Still, the outburst suggested that Trump, increasingly angry and frustrated about the investigations, is seeking to initiate a concerted campaign to shift the focus to Clinton and other Democrats.
After long expressing anger that his allies have not done enough to protect him from the inquiries, he is now enlisting White House and administration officials, employing his vast social media presence, and pressuring the Republican-led Congress to deflect any potentially damaging reports.
Last week, Trump asserted that it was Clinton who was guilty of having colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election, endeavoring to turn the tables on the crux of the allegations against his campaign, and then he sent his spokeswoman to the White House briefing room to repeat that charge. He urged the Justice Department to lift a gag order on an informant in a federal investigation involving Russia’s efforts to gain a foothold in the US uranium industry during the Obama administration.
And on Sunday, in tweets to his more than 40 million followers, he offered a litany of accusations against Clinton and seemed to praise Republicans for starting the new congressional investigations.
“Never seen such Republican ANGER & UNITY as I have concerning the lack of investigation on Clinton made Fake Dossier (now $12,000,000?), the Uranium to Russia deal, the 33,000 plus deleted Emails, the Comey fix and so much more,’’ Trump wrote. “Instead they look at phony Trump/Russia ‘collusion,’ which doesn’t exist.’’
“The Dems are using this terrible (and bad for our country) Witch Hunt for evil politics, but the R’s,’’ he added, “are now fighting back like never before. There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!’’
Trump was apparently referring to reports last week that Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee had paid for research that was included in a salacious dossier made public in January by BuzzFeed. The dossier contained claims about connections between Trump and his associates and Russia.
The president was also reviving unproved allegations that Clinton was part of a quid pro quo in which the Clinton Foundation received donations in exchange for her support as secretary of state for a deal that gave Russia control over a large share of uranium production in the United States.
And he was returning to questions about Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server and how then-FBI Director James Comey handled an investigation into the matter, which was closed with no charges being filed. Trump initially cited the e-mail case as a reason for firing Comey, before conceding that it was because of the Russia inquiry.
The president’s Twitter fusillade came as he and his advisers braced for the first public action by Robert S. Mueller III, the special prosecutor named after Comey’s ouster to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election. As part of his inquiry, Mueller is believed to be examining whether there was collusion between Trump’s campaign and Moscow, and whether the president obstructed justice when he fired Comey.
CNN reported Friday that a federal grand jury in Washington had approved the first charges in Mueller’s investigation and that plans had been made for anyone charged to be taken into custody as early as Monday. CNN said the target of the charges was unclear. The New York Times has not confirmed that charges have been approved.
Multiple congressional committees have undertaken their own investigations into Russian meddling in the elections, following up on the conclusion of US intelligence agencies that Moscow sought to sway the contest in favor of Trump — an idea that he has frequently dismissed as a hoax.
Some Republicans have been reluctant to embrace Trump’s efforts to shift the spotlight away from Russia’s interference, arguing that the episode should be scrutinized as a foreign policy and national security issue, not a matter of personal grievance for the president.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press’’ on Sunday, Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, said Trump had been “too defensive’’ about Mueller’s inquiry. “We ought to instead focus on the outrage that the Russians meddled in our elections,’’ said Portman, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, urged fellow Republicans on “Fox News Sunday’’ to give Mueller “a chance to do his job.’’
However, House majority leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, cast doubt on the objectivity of Mueller’s team, noting that the prosecutor’s staff includes ‘‘a lot of individuals, attorneys who played in politics, who’ve given money on the Democratic side.’’ Of the eight attorneys on the team who have been publicly identified, four made donations to Democrats, including former president Obama and Clinton.
‘‘This president won the election solely on the idea that he connected with the American people. No other influence involved,’’ McCarthy said on Fox’s ‘‘Sunday Morning Futures.’’ ‘‘But the idea of what I’ve watched, of what the Democrats have been doing, it sure raises a lot of questions.’’
Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer handling the response to the Russia investigation, said the president’s tweets were “unrelated to the activities of the special counsel, with whom he continues to cooperate.’’
In recent days, Trump has suggested that he believes the questions he has been raising about Clinton’s conduct should put to rest any allegations about his own actions and end the scrutiny of Russia’s meddling in the election.
Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and member of the Intelligence Committee, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation’’ that while she had yet to encounter “any definitive evidence of collusion,’’ she had seen “lots of evidence that the Russians were very active in trying to influence the elections.’’
Material from The Washington Post was used in this report.
