In two tweets Thursday morning, President Donald Trump dispensed with the notion that he had taken in stride the news of the Justice Department’s appointment of a special counsel for the probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
After the DOJ announced late Wednesday that former FBI Director Robert Mueller had been chosen as special counsel in the investigation, which is also looking into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russian operatives, Trump reportedly huddled with aides before releasing a fairly mild, one-paragraph reaction.
But speaking directly to his supporters Thursday, he called the investigation a “witch hunt” yet again and lashed out at the Obama administration and his opponent Hillary Clinton:
With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017
(The original version of the above tweet spelled counsel “councel” but was otherwise the same.)
This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017
The tweets recalled the advice he gave to graduates of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy hours before Mueller’s appointment was first announced.
“Look at the way I’ve been treated lately,” he complained, after telling the cadets to never give up in the face of adversity. “Especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly.”
This post has been updated.
