Christopher Wray, Trump's pick to lead the FBI after firing director James Comey, gave his support to independent prosecutor Robert Mueller | Photo Credit: Indiatimes

Washington: The nominee to head the US Federal Bureau of Investigation today rejected President Donald Trump's characterization of the probe into Russia's meddling in the US elections as a "witch hunt."

Christopher Wray, Trump's pick to lead the FBI after firing director James Comey, gave his support to independent prosecutor Robert Mueller, the former FBI chief now in charge of the politically explosive probe.

"I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt," Wray told a Senate hearing, hours after Trump, in a tweet, called the investigation "the greatest Witch Hunt in political history."

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Donald Trump arrived in Paris on Thursday for a presidential visit filled with Bastille Day pomp and which the White House hopes will offer respite from rolling scandal back home.

Air Force One touched down at Paris' Orly airport shortly after 0630 GMT, with US president beginning a 24-hour trip that coincides with France's national day on Friday and the 100th anniversary of US involvement in World War I.

Accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, the 71-year-old stepped onto French soil for the first time as president hoping the visit will distract from weighty allegations that his family and inner circle colluded with Russia to win the 2016 US election.

The scandal has put his son and top aides in legal jeopardy and cast a pall over his efforts to remake American politics.

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