President Trump called into Fox News' "Fox & Friends" Thursday morning and revealed more than he probably should have.
During the 30-minute long phone interview with Fox & Friends, where the president spoke almost uninterruptedly, he went off on his Justice Department, saying he was "very disappointed" by them and that there were people in the Justice Department "that shouldn't be there."
He vehemently denied any collusion with Russia and blamed former FBI director James Comey for "leaking classified information in order to get a special counsel" to probe the Russia interference in the 2016 presidential elections.
At least three times during the interview, Trump said that he would change his mind about not interfering in the DOJ's Russia probe headed by special counsel Robert Mueller.
WaPo:
Trump said that he tries to “stay away from” intervening in the Department of Justice, before adding, “But at some point I won’t.”
It was unclear to what exactly the president was referring — or threatening — in his comments, but Trump has repeatedly dismissed special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia probe as a “witch hunt” and expressed a desire to fire both Mueller and Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who is overseeing the investigation.
(...)
Trump’s remarks came as he called on the Department of Justice to investigate corruption within its own ranks, rather than focus on the Russia probe, which now includes not just Russian interference but also possible obstruction of justice.
“Our Justice Department, which I try and stay away from, but at some point I won’t — our Justice Department should be looking at that kind of stuff, not the nonsense of collusion with Russia,” Trump said. “There is no collusion with me and Russia, and everyone knows it.”
The president was initially responding to a question by the hosts of “Fox & Friends” — a morning show that he routinely watches and that offers a largely flattering portrayal of Trump and his administration — about whether he hopes to talk to Mueller and put an end to the investigation. “Well, if I can,” Trump said.
But Trump quickly turned to slamming his own Justice Department’s leadership ...
When Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy reminded the president that he was in charge of the Justice Department, Trump said, "Because of the fact that they have this witch hunt going on with people in the Justice Department that shouldn't be there, they have a witch hunt against the president of the United States going on, I have taken the position, and I don't have to take this position and maybe I'll change, that I will not be involved with the Justice Department. I will wait until this is over. It is a total... It is all lies and it is a horrible thing that is going on, a horrible thing."
The president also told the show's hosts that he did spend the night in Moscow in 2013, even though, according to James Comey's contemporaneous notes, he twice told the FBI director he did not. Trump had offered up the information as a reason why the Steele dossier accusation pertaining to his interaction with prostitutes had to be untrue.
CNN:
"He didn't write those memos accurately. He put a lot of phony stuff. For instance, I went to Russia for a day or so -- a day or two -- because I own the Miss Universe Pageant, so I went there to watch it," Trump said on "Fox & Friends."
"He said I didn't stay there a night. Of course I stayed there. I stayed there a very short period of time but of course I stayed. Well, his memo said I left immediately. I never said that. I never said I left immediately."
(...)
At a CNN town hall on Wednesday, CNN's Anderson Cooper asked Comey, "Since then, flight records, social media posts, congressional testimony, also photographs prove that he actually did spend the night in Moscow. Do you think it's significant that the President lied to you twice?"
"It's always significant when someone lies to you, especially about something you're not asking about. It tends to reflect a consciousness of guilt," Comey said. "I don't know what was in his head. I don't know whether he was intentionally misstating a fact to me."
In answering questions about the ongoing criminal investigation into Michael Cohen and why his longtime personal attorney is pleading the Fifth in the Stormy Daniels case (something Trump has said automatically indicates guilt), the president claimed very little of the work Cohen does for him is in his capacity as an attorney.
Prosecutors with the Southern District of New York immediately seized on the remarks in a new court document withdrawing the government's opposition to a Special Master. The government lawyers wrote that if there is, in fact, minimal legal communication between the two men, then combing through Cohen's materials for ones possibly covered by potential attorney-client privilege should not take long.
Judge Kimba Wood on Thursday appointed former Manhattan federal judge Barbara Jones to serve as Special Master and review materials seized in the FBI raid on Cohen's office, home, and hotel room on April 9th.
Judge Kimba Wood said Thursday at a hearing that Barbara Jones has the right amount of experience to handle the study of materials seized in the April 9 raids that targeted attorney Michael Cohen.
Jones was a federal judge in New York for 17 years before leaving for private practice five years ago.
The judge noted that the government and Cohen's lawyers agreed that a "special master" was the best way to determine which materials should be off-limits to federal investigators.
Prosecutors have said the raids resulted from an investigation into possible fraud.
Trump denies that he told Comey he didn't stay overnight in Moscow (CNN)
Trump says he might get more involved in managing the Justice Department (Washington Post)
Trump Said He Might Get Involved In The Justice Department’s Russia Probe Right After Saying He Won't Get Involved (BuzzFeed News)
Trump's jabs about pleading the Fifth come back to haunt him in Cohen case (CNN)
Trump blasts those who take the Fifth, but he used it 97 times on adultery questions (McClatchy DC)
Government's letter withdrawing opposition to Special Master appointment
Judge appoints former judge as special master in Michael Cohen case (Politico)