President Donald Trump on Friday called the special counsel investigation against him “illegal” and “conflicted” in response to reports about how the probe got started.
On Thursday, the transcript of former FBI agent Peter Strzok’s closed-door hearing was released — and Trump said the transcript proved his campaign was under investigation by Obama-era officials as early as 2015.
He said the testimony showed officials knew there were no crimes committed when the special counsel investigation was later launched — and that it was based on an opposition research dossier instead.
“So, if there was knowingly & acknowledged to be ‘zero’ crime when the special counsel was appointed, and if the appointment was made based on the fake dossier (paid for by Crooked Hillary) and now disgraced Andrew McCabe (he & all stated no crime), then the special counsel should never have been appointed and there should be no Mueller report,” Trump said in a tweet.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, released the transcript, which came from a closed-door hearing held in June 2018.
Strzok did not confirm any wrongdoing by agency officials in his testimony.
“This was an illegal & conflicted investigation in search of a crime,” Trump said. “Russian cxollusion was nothing more than an excuse by the Democrats for losing an election that they thought they were going to win. THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN TO A PRESIDENT AGAIN!” – READ MORE