President offers no proof for allegation about special counsel investigators and says Democrats are guilty of ‘collusion’

Donald Trump reached for a loaded term on Monday when without offering proof he accused special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators of “meddling” in the forthcoming midterm elections. The president also said only Democrats were guilty of “collusion”.

Rudy Giuliani admits 'Spygate' is Trump PR tactic against Robert Mueller Read more

Mueller, who was appointed last year after Trump fired FBI director James Comey, is leading the investigation into Russian election interference in 2016 and alleged collusion between Trump aides and Moscow. Mueller is also investigating whether actions like the firing of Comey constitute obstruction of justice.

Four Trump associates have been charged. Three, including Trump’s first national security adviser, Gen Michael Flynn, have pleaded guilty to lying to the authorities and agreed to co-operate with Mueller. Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, has pleaded not guilty on financial charges.

The US intelligence community agrees that Russia sought to influence the 2016 election in Trump’s favour and against Hillary Clinton. The Senate judiciary committee has supported that view; the House intelligence committee, led by Trump allies, has said there was no collusion by the Trump campaign.

On Tuesday, Trump tweeted: “The 13 Angry Democrats (plus people who worked 8 years for Obama) working on the rigged Russia Witch Hunt, will be MEDDLING with the mid-term elections, especially now that Republicans (stay tough!) are taking the lead in Polls. There was no Collusion, except by the Democrats.

“Why aren’t the 13 Angry and heavily conflicted Democrats investigating the totally Crooked Campaign of totally Crooked Hillary Clinton. It’s a Rigged Witch Hunt, that’s why! Ask them if they enjoyed her after election celebration!”

Trump has repeatedly referred to Mueller’s team as “13 angry Democrats”. Mueller is a Republican appointed by Trump’s own deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who is himself a Republican. According to publicly available information cited by the Washington Post, 13 of Mueller’s investigators have registered as Democrats in the past and nine have donated to Democrats. The biggest donor on the team, the Post reported, also donated to Republicans.

Most polls predict a strong Democratic performance in the midterms in November, potentially producing a “blue wave” and handing control of the House and even the Senate back to the opposition party.

Play Video 0:39 Rudy Giuliani says 'Spygate' is a PR strategy – video

Trump has pursued an aggressive strategy towards Mueller in recent weeks, as talks over a possible interview between special counsel and president continue. On Sunday Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani admitted on CNN that Trump’s repeated claim there was a “spy” in his campaign were made “for public opinion … because eventually the decision here is going to be impeach or not impeach”.

Intelligence analysts and experts have rubbished the “spy” claims, saying that if an FBI informant spoke to Trump aides observed interacting with Russians, that was normal policy if a foreign power appeared to be seeking to influence an election.

“Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans,” Giuliani said, nonetheless, “are going to be informed a lot by their constituents. And so our jury – and it should be – is the American people.”

In another tweet on Tuesday, Trump said he needed to focus more of his attention on issues important to Americans and less on the Russia investigation.

“Sorry,” he wrote. “I’ve got to start focusing my energy on North Korea Nuclear, bad Trade Deals, VA Choice, the Economy, rebuilding the Military, and so much more, and not on the Rigged Russia Witch Hunt that should be investigating Clinton/Russia/FBI/Justice/Obama/Comey/Lynch etc.”