"We look forward to seeing this hoax wrap up very soon," Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. | Alex Brandon/AP Sanders brushes off 'hoax' Russia probe, backs calls to investigate wrongdoing under Obama

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that President Donald Trump hopes special counsel Robert Mueller will wrap up his "hoax" investigation soon, and she said lawmakers should "absolutely" look into what they view as election-related wrongdoing under the previous administration.

Sanders said Trump does not intend to fire Mueller, whose team is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, including any ties to Trump campaign officials. But the White House spokeswoman also took aim at the probe's legitimacy.


"We have no intentions of firing Bob Mueller. We are continuing to work closely and cooperate with him," Sanders said on Fox News. "We look forward to seeing this hoax wrap up very soon."

Sanders was asked whether she agreed with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who tweeted on Thursday that it was "time to investigate high ranking Obama government officials who might have colluded to prevent the election of @realDonaldTrump!"

"I think it's something that certainly should be looked at," Sanders said.

Paul also suggested during an interview on Fox News that members of the intelligence community may have conspired to keep Trump out of the White House. Pressed on whether the White House agreed with the senator's sentiment, Sanders said an investigation into the matter would be worthwhile.

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"I haven't asked [the president] directly about Sen. Paul's statement. I think the senator, if he feels there is something to be looked at, we absolutely should be looking at that," she said.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed the ongoing probe into ties between his campaign aides and foreign officials as a "hoax" and a "witch hunt."

The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., similarly floated Tuesday that government officials were conspiring against his father.

"There is, and there are, people at the highest levels of government that don't want to let America be America," Trump Jr. told a group of young conservatives in Florida.

