Mueller Team Has ‘Gone Absolutely Nuts,’ Trump Says, Resuming Attacks on Russia Inquiry

WASHINGTON — Fresh off three days of private meetings with his personal lawyers, President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on Thursday on the special counsel investigation, calling it “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!”

The barrage, launched on Twitter, ended a period of relative quiet by the president about the investigation, which has ensnared some of his former aides.

The president returned on Sunday from a trip to Paris and faced criticism at home for his decision to skip a solemn visit to an American cemetery in France, part of events to mark 100 years since the end of World War I.

When he was back at the White House, Trump met with his personal lawyers in private meetings and worked to draft answers to questions posed by the special counsel, Robert Mueller. Mueller’s team has been investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and any possible ties to the Trump campaign.

For months, the president’s legal team and aides have pleaded with him to avoid writing Twitter posts critical of Mueller, particularly as presidents in previous administrations have respected a wall between the White House and the Justice Department on ongoing criminal investigations. Trump has long complained publicly and privately about what he believes to be Mueller’s conflicts of interest, despite a Justice Department review and conclusion last year that Mueller had none. But by Thursday morning, the president renewed his personal attacks on Mueller and said universities would someday study these conflicts.

But it was unclear what may have motivated Trump’s Twitter posts on Thursday morning.

Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was spotted by an ABC News crew on Monday en route to see Mueller’s team. Cohen has pleaded guilty to a string of crimes, and said under oath that his client ordered him to make hush payments to an adult-film actress claiming in 2016 that she had an affair with Trump.

Several of Trump’s former aides have struck deals with the special counsel team in exchange for their cooperation in the investigation. This week, Jerome Corsi, a friend of Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime informal adviser to the president, announced that he expected to be charged with lying to federal investigators after two months of cooperation with the special counsel team.

Mueller, whose appointment did not require approval from the Senate, has sought to ask the president about any possible coordination with Russia during the campaign and whether he intended to obstruct the investigation.

The special counsel team has negotiated over a possible presidential interview for nearly a year. After months of back-and-forth with the president’s personal lawyers, Mueller’s team agreed to accept answers in writing about possible conspiracy with Russia. On obstruction matters, investigators acknowledged that issues of executive privilege could complicate the prospect of an interview, but they did not abandon pursuit of it.

The president’s lawyers are said to believe that the special counsel investigation is winding down, though Mueller’s team has given no public indication about its timeline.

Trump’s attorneys have blanched at the idea of the president sitting down and being interviewed by Mueller and his team out of concern that the president might make a false statement. Lying to federal investigators is a felony that could carry up to five years in prison. Trump’s comments Thursday renewed concerns on Capitol Hill that the president could move to fire Mueller and end his investigation.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans are pushing for Congress to vote before the end of their session next month on legislation providing job protections to special counsels like Mueller.

Two lawmakers — Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who is retiring at the end of the year, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. — attempted to push through the bill on Wednesday, but they were blocked by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. the Senate majority leader, who said he had never heard Trump say he wanted to shut down the investigation. On Thursday, Flake and Coons pledged to continue asking for the Senate to consider the proposal until McConnell agreed to allow a vote.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, joined the effort on Thursday morning, asserting that McConnell was in denial about Trump’s intentions.

“There is too much at stake to sit around and wait until the president crosses the line, creating the constitutional crisis we all abhor,” Schumer said.

Trump has previously sought to fire Mueller. In June 2017, Trump told the White House counsel to take steps to remove Mueller because of the perceived conflicts. Trump cited a dispute with Mueller several years ago about golf fees at a Trump golf club in Virginia where Mueller was a member; Mueller’s interview with Trump to return to his old job as FBI director, which occurred the day before he was appointed special counsel; and Mueller’s work for a law firm that previously represented Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The White House counsel refused, and the president dropped the issue.

Trump has focused his ire on a several prosecutors working for Mueller, but the special counsel’s team is broader. It includes FBI agents working under Christopher A. Wray, the FBI director chosen by the president, and other Justice Department officials.

As the president has renewed his offensive on Mueller, critics of his administration argue that Trump’s recent appointment to lead the Justice Department and oversee the Russia investigation has conflicts of interest of his own.

When Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week, he named a loyalist, Matthew G. Whitaker, to replace him in an acting capacity. Whitaker has been publicly critical of the Mueller inquiry but now has oversight of the special counsel.