1. “Stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now.”

On Twitter, President Trump took the extraordinary step of asking Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, to end the special counsel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and Russian links to his campaign.

Some lawyers called the directive obstruction of justice, but Mr. Trump’s lawyers said he was delivering an opinion, not an order.

Mr. Trump also compared the treatment of the notorious mobster Al Capone to the case of Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s onetime campaign chairman, who is on trial as a result of the special counsel’s investigation.