White House: Trump's call to end Russia probe 'not an order'

World
Europe

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's tweet earlier this morning urging Attorney General Jeff Sessions to shut down the ongoing Russia probe is an "opinion," not an "order."

The response came hours after Trump said in a tweet that Sessions should stop the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller, escalating his attacks against the wide-ranging inquiry and raising speculation about his intentions.

US President Donald Trump attends a meeting with inner city pastors at the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, August 1, 2018. /VCG Photo

"It's not an order. It's the President's opinion," Sanders told a White House briefing Wednesday afternoon. "The President has watched this process play out. But he also wants to see it come to an end as he stated many times."

Trump's tweet is viewed as the most direct call that demands Sessions intervene to end the probe, which critics say amounts to an attempt to obstruct justice, a claim that Sanders rejected.

Sessions infuriated the president by recusing himself from the Russia investigation last March before Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who's overseeing the inquiry and has defended the special counsel.

Asked whether Trump is aware that Sessions can't stop the investigation, Sanders said, "The President's very well aware of how the process works, once again, he's stating his opinion."

The Blind Justice statue stands outside of District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, US, Aug. 1, 2018. /VCG Photo

Mueller is looking into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections and any potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, among other matters that may arise from the investigation.

Since the beginning of the probe in May 2017, Mueller has indicted or secured guilty pleas from 32 people, including several former Trump campaign aides.

Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, who was indicted by Mueller last fall, is facing trial for bank and tax fraud in a federal court in the state of Virginia.

Legal analysts say Mueller's primary aim in charging Manafort is to put pressure on him so that he would provide information about alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, July 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

Reacting to the tweet about Sessions, Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani said the president said "should," not "must" when talking about ending the Mueller investigation, and that "no presidential order was issued or will be."

The New York Times reported last month that Mueller is also investigating Trump's tweets criticizing Sessions as to whether the president has obstructed justice.

Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, blasted Trump's tweets as "an attempt to obstruct justice hiding in plain sight."

In other tweets, Trump repeated his attacks against the probe on Wednesday by calling it "a hoax," claiming that Mueller is "totally conflicted" and that what his team is doing was "a disgrace" to the country.

Twitter screenshot /CGTN Photo

As the Russia probe continues, Trump and his political allies have ratcheted up pressure on Mueller and his team in recent months.

Giuliani made headlines on Monday by saying that "collusion is not a crime," a claim reiterated by Trump a day later.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency