Donald Trump says he has answered Robert Mueller's questions, but hasn't submitted them yet

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Donald Trump: I answered Robert Mueller's questions very easily President Donald Trump says he has answered written questions from special counsel Robert Mueller but hasn't yet submitted them. Trump told reporters Friday he answered the questions "very easily" but added, "you have to always be careful." (Nov. 16)

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Friday he has answered questions from special counsel Robert Mueller, but has not yet submitted them to prosecutors who are are investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

Trump did not detail the questions or his answers, but again denied any kind of collusion with Russians who sought to influence the presidential election in his favor.

Trump also denied seeking to obstruct Mueller's investigation, even as he continued to attack the basis for it. The president said he answered Mueller's questions carefully because he feared they might have been "tricked up" by prosecutors in an effort to get him to commit perjury.

"So you have to always be careful when you answer questions with people that probably have bad intentions," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"I haven't submitted them yet ... I just finished them," Trump said, noting that he is coming off a congressional election campaign and a trip to France in recent weeks. "As you know, I've been a little bit busy."

The president took questions from the media after signing a bill designed to improve the nation's cybersecurity.

Trump again ripped the Mueller investigation as a “hoax,” but predicted he would be vindicated soon.

"From what I hear, it's ending, and I'm sure it'll be just fine," Trump said. "And you know why it's going to be just fine? Because there was no collusion."

He did not disclose how he might know of Mueller's plans.

Trump's disclosure marked the latest turn in negotiations that stretch back to late last year, when Mueller's office began seeking testimony from the president.

While Trump has refused to sit down with prosecutors for a face-to-face interview, he and his lawyers have worked in recent weeks on written responses to investigators' inquiries.

Mueller's office is investigating how Russia sought to influence the 2016 election by hacking Democrats' emails – and releasing them to the public – and by pushing negative fake news about Trump opponent Hillary Clinton.

Prosecutors are also looking into whether Trump sought to obstruct the investigation in various ways, including the 2017 dismissal of FBI Director James Comey.

White House officials, various lawyers, and numerous journalists have spent weeks speculating on Mueller's next move, and whether it will be more indictments or a report on his findings.

On Thursday, Trump unleashed another tweet storm on the Mueller operation, saying that "the inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess" and prosecutors "don't care how many lives" are ruined.

Speaking with reporters on Friday, Trump said he was "not agitated" with Mueller, but his investigation is a "hoax."

"There should have never been any Mueller investigation because there was never anything done wrong," he said. "They've wasted millions and millions of dollars."

Lawmakers have accused Trump of seeking to undermine the Mueller investigation by poisoning public opinion. They also cited Trump's recent naming of Acting Attorney Matthew Whitaker, who has also publicly criticized the probe and suggested de-funding it.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, who is expected to chair the House Intelligence Committee after the Democrats take control of the House next year, said this week on Twitter: "We will do everything in our power to protect the Mueller investigation, the independence of the Department of Justice, and the rule of law."

In again attacking the Mueller investigation, Trump said he has defended himself aggressively, and will continue to do so.

"I like to take everything personally, because you do better that way."

Claiming, without evidence, that Mueller's team might want to set a perjury trap for him, Trump used weather as an example. "'Gee, you know, was the weather sunny or was it rainy?'" Trump said. "He said it may have been a good day. It was rainy. Therefore he told a lie. He perjured himself, OK?"

Trump again accused the Democrats and Clinton of exaggerating Russian hacking to explain away their defeat. "The fact is I was a much better candidate than Hillary Clinton," he said. "I went to the right states; she went to the wrong states."

In denying collusion or obstruction, Trump repeatedly insisted he did the answers himself.

"They were my answers," Trump said. "I don't need lawyers to do that."