With a growing number of Trump aides and associates coming in for questioning as part of Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, the president is once again attacking James Comey’s credibility. In a series of three tweets early Wednesday morning, Donald Trump accused the fired F.B.I. director of having “lied and leaked” to protect Hillary Clinton, questioning the Justice Department’s investigation into the two-time presidential hopeful’s use of a private e-mail server as head of the State Department.

Trump’s latest attempt to politicize Comey’s motivations may end up only muddling his own narrative for firing him. The president’s missives appear to be in reference to an F.B.I. document dump on Monday that confirmed Comey had drafted a statement exonerating Clinton before the investigation into her use of a private e-mail sever had concluded, and prior to interviewing the former secretary of state herself. But in sending them, Trump undercut the White House’s initial explanation for firing Comey in May: that the erstwhile F.B.I. director treated Clinton unfairly, not that he “was the best thing that ever happened to her.” Ultimately, in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Trump admitted that he “was going to fire [Comey] regardless of [the] recommendation” to do so from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The president’s baffling declaration is believed to have prompted Rosenstein to appoint Mueller as special counsel, arguably spurring the investigation into whether Trump attempted to obstruct justice when he fired Comey.

Trump’s tweets seem like a pre-emptive strike against Comey and the F.B.I. at a time when Mueller’s probe, and parallel investigations being carried out by Congress, are expanding to include a number of associates who could be critical to a potential obstruction case. On Monday, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer—who also worked on Trump’s transition team and reportedly diligently documented every conversation he had in the White House—sat with Mueller’s team for questioning that “lasted much of the day” and centered on the president’s decision to oust the F.B.I. chief, Politico reported. Just days earlier, Reince Priebus also testified for hours in front of Mueller’s team. As my colleague Gabriel Sherman reported, Trump’s former chief of staff was “champing at the bit to testify,” and his testimony is said to have rattled Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, in particular. Kushner “was freaked out about Comey from day one,” one Trump adviser told Sherman.

The rest of Trumpworld is finding itself increasingly involved in the Russia probe, too. On Wednesday morning, Attorney General Jeff Sessions—who emerged as a key campaign surrogate for Trump during the election—will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for questioning, following an earlier appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June. Trump’s longtime lawyer and ally, Michael Cohen, will testify before the Senate panel later this month after his originally scheduled appearance was canceled when he shared his opening statement with the Hive. And NBC News reported that the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Carter Page, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump during the campaign, for documents and testimony. Page told the outlet in an e-mail that he requested to testify publicly on November 1.