Washington (CNN) On Monday, after a report in The New York Times that the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation in 2017 to ascertain whether President Donald Trump was working for Russia and against the United States , he stood in front of reporters and denied it.

"I never worked for Russia," Trump said adding : "And you know that answer better than anybody. Not only did I never work for Russia, I think it's a disgrace that you even asked that question because it's a whole big fat hoax."

Which, in and of itself, is insane. A President of the United States forced to deny, on the record, that he was a Russian agent? I mean, b-a-n-a-n-a-s

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But that craziness aside, it's worth noting what Trump's quote gets flat wrong. I take no issue with his denial of working on behalf of Russia. What I do have a problem with is his description of the ongoing special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election as a "whole big fat hoax."

That is demonstrably false. And, I'll prove it -- in just five numbers: 192, 36, 7, 4 and 1

* 192 is the number of overall criminal counts brought by Mueller's team to date

* 36 is the number of people and entities charged in the Mueller probe

* 7 is the number of people who have pleaded guilty in the investigation

* 4 is the number of people who have been sentenced to jail for their wrongdoing unearthed by Mueller

* 1 is the person (Paul Manafort) who was convicted of crimes sniffed out by Mueller's team

And reminder: The Mueller probe isn't over yet. And no one -- up to and including Trump -- knows what Mueller knows and, more importantly, what he can prove.