The president is facing accusations of interfering with the Justice Department. | Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images Trump says he's 'tried to stay uninvolved' with the DOJ, FBI

President Donald Trump on Monday morning claimed that he has “tried to stay uninvolved” in the Justice Department and asked why the DOJ and FBI haven't turned over all documents that lawmakers have been requesting.

“I have tried to stay uninvolved with the Department of Justice and FBI (although I do not legally have to), because of the now totally discredited and very expensive Witch Hunt currently going on. But you do have to ask why the DOJ & FBI aren’t giving over requested documents?“ the president tweeted.


The DOJ turned over thousands of documents to Congress last week to comply with requests from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).

The documents include information about the FBI’s use of informants to glean information on Russian contacts with Trump's campaign and a file on the FBI's justification to obtain a court-authorized warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign aide in October 2016. The documents requested also include information on the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Nunes set a Monday evening deadline for the DOJ to hand over documents that explain alleged abuse of informants into Trump’s campaign.

The California lawmaker said he does not think the department will meet the deadline.

“I know the Democrats have been hiding because they are so married to this Russiagate fiasco that’s been going on for so long, but I would think most of the American people, including most people in politics, would be very, very worried if the FBI and others are running informants into our campaigns,” he said Monday morning on “Fox & Friends.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan's office said in a statement this past weekend that there are a few "outstanding items" that require more time.

Rep. Mark Meadows tweeted Saturday that the Department of Justice and the FBI did not comply with the document requests from Congress.

“While they have turned over additional documents, the new documents represent a small percentage of what they owe,” the North Carolina Republican wrote.

Documents from a request by Nunes related to the so-called Steele dossier, a controversial collection of memos compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele that alleges ties between Trump and Russia, are still outstanding.

The president is facing accusations of interfering with the Justice Department, primarily from former FBI Director James Comey, who claims that Trump asked him to let go of an investigation into former national security Michael Flynn during a private meeting.

