Donald Trump says collusion 'is not a crime,' insists his campaign did not collude with Russia

David Jackson | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump agreed with his lawyer Tuesday that election collusion with a foreign government is not a crime, even as he denied working with Russia during the 2016 campaign.

"Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn’t matter because there was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)!" Trump tweeted, echoing comments made Monday by his attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating possible cooperation between Trump's presidential campaign and Russians who sought to influence the 2016 U.S. election by hacking into Democratic computers and using social media to try to undermine Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn’t matter because there was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018

More: Rudy Giuliani says Donald Trump team preparing report to counter Robert Mueller

More: Donald Trump denies all, attacking Mueller and Cohen over Russia probe

Trump's latest tweets come as a criminal trial gets under way Tuesday for Trump's former campaign chief, Paul Manafort. Manafort faces a barrage of bank fraud and tax evasion charges in a case that is the first public test for Mueller's team.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, and has called the Mueller probe as a Democratic "witch hunt."

The Fake News Media is going CRAZY! They are totally unhinged and in many ways, after witnessing first hand the damage they do to so many innocent and decent people, I enjoy watching. In 7 years, when I am no longer in office, their ratings will dry up and they will be gone! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018

The president may have been thinking about the Russia investigation – and the Manafort trial – when he unleashed another attack on the media later in the day.

"The Fake News Media is going CRAZY!" Trump tweeted. "They are totally unhinged and in many ways, after witnessing first hand the damage they do to so many innocent and decent people, I enjoy watching. In 7 years, when I am no longer in office, their ratings will dry up and they will be gone!"