White House Trump calls Mueller probe an 'attempted coup'

President Donald Trump on Wednesday called special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation an "attempted coup" intended to remove him from office.

"It was an illegal investigation. It was started illegally. Everything about it was crooked," the president told reporters outside the White House before departing on a day trip to Texas. The president also claimed Mueller and his investigators, charged with probing allegations that the president's 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government, "were people that truly hated Donald Trump."


"This was an attempted coup," he continued. "This was an attempted takedown of a president, and we beat them."

Trump has long derided Mueller's probe as a "witch hunt" and accused the former FBI director of building a team stacked with Democrats. Mueller, a registered Republican, submitted a report on his two-year long investigation last month.

Attorney General William Barr, in a summary of the report, wrote that Mueller didn't find a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to sway the 2016 presidential election. The attorney general also wrote that Mueller did not fully exonerate Trump in an obstruction of justice inquiry, but Barr added that he did not believe there was enough evidence to bring charges on the matter.

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The president, responding to Barr's ostensible exoneration of the president, said Mueller acted honorably in conducting his investigation. Trump has since called for an investigation into how Mueller's probe began. The president previously said that he would like to see the full Mueller report released, but Trump has since backpedaled somewhat from that position.

Several members of Mueller's team, however, have disputed Barr's assessment of the investigation.

Democrats have urged Barr to release the more than 300-page report. Barr on Tuesday said a redacted report will be released within a week, an assurance that fell short of placating Democrats who want unfettered access to all of Mueller's findings as well as related information from a federal grand jury.

Trump said he has not seen or read the report.

"As far as I'm concerned, I don't care about the Mueller report," the president said.