Donald Trump says it's 'unlikely' he'd submit to an interview in Robert Mueller's Russia investigation
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US President Donald Trump says that it "seems unlikely" that he'd give an interview in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Key points:
- Trump says it seems unlikely he'd need to be interviewed because there's no evidence of collusion
- Trump claims investigation "hurts our Government"
- Democratic senator releases transcript of interview over objections of Chuck Grassley
Mr Trump said "we'll see what happens" when asked if he'd provide an interview to Mr Mueller's team.
"When they have no collusion and nobody's found any collusion at any level, it seems unlikely that you'd even have an interview," Mr Trump said during a joint news conference with Norway's leader.
The special counsel's team of investigators has expressed interest in speaking with Mr Trump, but no details have been worked out.
The President's lawyers have previously stated their determination to cooperate with requests in the probe, which has already resulted in charges against four of Mr Trump's campaign advisers.
Mr Trump called the investigation a "phony cloud" over his administration.
"It has hurt our Government. It was a Democrat hoax" he said.
Mr Trump's words differed from what he said at a news conference in June, shortly after fired FBI director James Comey had told Congress that Mr Trump asked him for a pledge of loyalty.
The President denied that, and said he'd be "100 per cent" willing tell his version of events under oath.
He said he'd be "glad to" speak to Mr Mueller about it.
Mr Trump's comments came after he lashed out at the investigations on Twitter, urging Republicans to take control of the inquiries and repeating his claim that they are on a "witch hunt".
Trump slams senator over leaked transcript
In a separate tweet, Mr Trump accused Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein of being "underhanded and a disgrace" for disclosing details of a dossier of allegations about his ties to Russia during the presidential campaign.
Ms Feinstein, who faces a primary challenge in her re-election this year, released the transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee's closed-door August interview with an official from the political opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which commissioned the dossier.
She released the transcript of Glenn Simpson's interview over the objections of the committee's Republican chairman, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley.
Ms Feinstein is the top Democrat on the panel.
The material wasn't classified, and Ms Feinstein said she didn't do anything illegal.
As the top Democrat on the committee, she didn't need authorisation from Mr Grassley to release it.
Her staff helped conduct the interview with Mr Simpson, who had also asked for the interview to be released.
Still, the release was a blow to the two politicians' earlier attempts at bipartisanship on the committee's Russia investigation.
Ms Feinstein told reporters that she didn't tell Mr Grassley beforehand, and "I owe him an apology and I will give him an apology as soon as I see him".
Mr Grassley said he was "confounded" by the release and argued it could undermine attempts to get additional witnesses.
He later claimed he was continuing to negotiate witnesses with Ms Feinstein in the Russia probe.
Trump claims dossier was a politically motivated hit job
Mr Trump has derided the dossier as a politically motivated hit job.
Following his lead, several Republican-led committees are now investigating whether the dossier formed the basis for the FBI's initial investigations.
That has angered Democrats, who say those probes are distractions from the Russia investigations.
Ms Feinstein said that she was trying to set the record straight after speculation about Mr Simpson's interview.
"The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation into potential collusion and obstruction of justice," she said.
"The only way to set the record straight is to make the transcript public."
Ms Feinstein also sits on the Senate intelligence committee, which is conducting its own investigation into the Russian interference and whether Mr Trump's campaign was in any way involved.
Mr Trump has often invoked Ms Feinstein on the collusion issue.
In October she said there was "no proof" yet that there was any collusion between Russia and Mr Trump's campaign, adding: "I think that proof will likely come with Mr. Mueller's investigation."
AP
Topics: world-politics, law-crime-and-justice, us-elections, donald-trump, united-states
