President Trump said Thursday he never told White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, contradicting what Mr. Mueller detailed in his report.
“As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so. If I wanted to fire Mueller, I didn’t need McGahn to do it, I could have done it myself,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
“Nevertheless Mueller was NOT fired and was respectfully allowed to finish his work on what I, and many others, say was an illegal investigation (there was no crime), headed by a Trump hater who was highly conflicted, and a group of 18 VERY ANGRY Democrats. DRAIN THE SWAMP,” he continued.
“Despite the fact that the Mueller Report was ’composed’ by Trump Haters and Angry Democrats, who had unlimited funds and human resources, the end result was No Collusion, No Obstruction. Amazing,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Mr. Mueller ruled in his report that Mr. McGahn may have saved Mr. Trump from obstruction of justice charges.
The special counsel detailed in June 2017 when the president called Mr. McGahn and told him to fire Mr. Mueller. In response, Mr. McGahn threatened to resign instead, afraid of a potential “Saturday Night Massacre.”
Mr. Mueller was not fired, and Mr. McGahn ended up staying until October 2018.
Mr. Trump also refuted Mr. Mueller’s reports that his staff would ignore his directives. The president told reporters Monday: “Nobody disobeys my orders.”
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Mr. McGahn on Monday, requiring that he appear in front of Congress by the end of next month.
• Gabriella Muñoz and Jeff Mordock contributed to this article.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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