President Donald Trump has repeatedly denounced the far-reaching investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Trump says he may change his mind on not getting involved in DOJ's Russia probe

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he may change his position to not be involved with the Justice Department’s sprawling probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to meddle in the 2016 presidential election.

“Because of the fact that they have this witch hunt going on with people in the Justice Department that shouldn't be there, they have a witch hunt against the president of the United States going on, I‘ve taken the position, and I don't have to take this position, and maybe I'll change, that I will not be involved with the Justice Department,” Trump said in a wide-ranging interview with "Fox & Friends" on Thursday morning.


“I will wait until this is over. It is a total, it is all lies and it is a horrible thing that is going on, a horrible thing,” the president continued.

Trump has repeatedly denounced the far-reaching investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into whether there was collusion between Trump's campaign and Russian officials meddling in the election. The probe has expanded to also include inquiries into whether Trump tried to obstruct justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey and by allegedly pressuring officials to shut down investigations into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The White House has denied that Trump is considering firing Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller's probe. But Trump on Thursday appeared to open the door to taking some action that could undermine the special counsel's investigation.

Separately, the Senate Judiciary Committee later on Thursday is expected to vote on a bill to protect Mueller’s job.

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Though the president began the phone interview on Thursday morning gushing about First Lady Melania Trump’s work on this week's state dinner and by wishing her a happy birthday, Trump quickly grew annoyed and lashed out against his usual opponents, including Comey and the DOJ.

Comey, who has been on a media blitz promoting his tell-all book, recently saw Congress release memos of notes he took after several meetings with Trump in which the president allegedly asked him to end the Russia-related investigations.

“It is a total, it is all lies and it is a horrible thing that is going on, a horrible thing,” he said of the Mueller probe. “And yet I have accomplished, with all of this going on, more than any president in the first year in our history. Everybody, even the enemies and haters admit that.“

During Trump’s attack on the Justice Department, “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy challenged Trump over his attack on the DOJ.

“It is your Justice Department, Mr. President, you’re the Republican in charge of, you got a Republican running it,” Doocy said.

The comment didn’t stop Trump from continuing to express his disappointment with the department and doubling down that he may get involved with the DOJ’s probe.

“I have decided I won’t be involved,” he said. “I may change my mind at some point because what is going on is a disgrace.”

Trump’s critics were quick to denounce Trump’s attacks.

“Mr. President, it’s not YOUR Justice Department. It’s the AMERICAN PEOPLE’S Justice Department. And you’ve already improperly interfered with it more than any president since Nixon. Your rant this morning undermines the rule of law. And you need to stop,” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) wrote on Twitter.

Leahy has in the past called for the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold an oversight hearing on the president’s attacks on the FBI and Justice Department.

Walter Shaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, also tweeted that Trump’s comments are a “threat to the rule of law. Full stop.”

Trump also accused the FBI of being willing to “break down doors“ to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s house and to “undo the lock“ on his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, but not being willing to seize the Democratic National Committee’s server that was hacked in the lead up to the election.

The DNC has in the past disputed a similar charge from Trump, saying it provided the FBI information on the server through a third-party vendor.

Though Trump waded through a number of topics, from his relationship with Kanye West to his dealings with Cohen, Trump continued to vent that he believes there is corruption within the Justice Department.

“You look at the corruption at the top of the FBI, it's a disgrace,“ he said. “And our Justice Department, which I try and stay away from, but at some point I won't, our Justice Department should be looking at that kind of stuff, not the nonsense of collusion with Russia. There is no collusion with me and Russia. And everyone knows it.“