Trump accuses Obama's DOJ of 'treason' in wild rant against department and FBI over Michael Flynn

President appears to suggest some Obama administration officials should be in prison or put to death

Donald Trump accused Obama administration Justice Department officials of “treason” as the agency moved to drop all charges against his first national security adviser, retired Army General Michael Flynn

“The Obama administration Justice Department was a disgrace,” the president said in the Oval Office. “It’s treason. It’s treason.”

The president slammed those who were at the top of DOJ and the FBI in the late days of the Obama administration, who began looking at Mr Flynn’s contacts with Russians and his private business dealings, “dishonest” and “crooked”.

He again blasted those now-former officials for going after a “duly elected president” (himself) and other “fine people,” including Mr Flynn and others who once were in his inner circle.

About his first national security adviser, whom Mr Trump said he fired for misleading Vice President Mike Pence in February 2017 about those Russian contacts, the president on Thursday referred to him as “an innocent man” who is now “an even greater warrior.”

The department dropped the charges about a week after internal documents surfaced showing FBI officials questioning how they could get enough on Mr Flynn to convict him – or at least get him fired from his White House position. He had pleased guilty to charges of lying to federal investigators.

During another wide-ranging “pool spray” with reporters as he met with Texas governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, Mr Trump denied having contact with one of his military valets who tested positive for coronavirus, putting the sometimes-deadly respiratory disease inside the president’s inner circle.

“I’ve had very little contact with this person,” the president said, saying White House staff had been tested “on a weekly basis” before announcing they would now be tested each day.

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“Testing is not a perfect art. ... Even when you test once a day, something happens where they catch something,” Mr Trump said, appearing to accept the kind of risk he is asking Americans to accept as states begin to open again.

About the military aide, Mr Trump said: “I know who he is. He’s a good person. I’ve had ... very little contact with him.”

Lone Star state of mind

Texas has over 32,000 confirmed cases and nearly 900 deaths. It has not had two straight weeks of declining cases, which White House guidelines state should exist before any states begins a recommended three-step opening process.

Mr Abbott has allowed many businesses to reopen, and the White House is hailing his guidance as a model for the rest of the country. Though local reports of restaurant openings detail sparse attendance, Texans have the option. Come May 18, they will also have the option of going to gyms that opt to open -- though while wearing gloves but not masks.

Large movie theatre chains like AMC and Cinemark, however, are refusing to open their facilities just yet, citing concerns over a surge in cases in the Lone Star State.

The Texas chief executive met with the president one day after an audio recording surfaced -- which was not disputed by his spokesman -- in which he acknowledged opening any state will further spread the deadly respiratory disease.

“Listen, the fact of the matter is pretty much every scientific and medical report shows that when you have a reopening ... it actually will lead to an increase and spread,” Abbott said on the recording.

“Just because there may be an increase in the number of people that test positive, that alone is not a decisive criteria,” he added.

Mr Trump earlier this week went further, saying his push for governors like Mr Abbott to open their states would lead to additional deaths. The president, like many GOP governors, is mostly interested in reviving the American economy.

“It’s possible there will be some” deaths directly caused by his push to reopen the country “because you won’t be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is,” Mr Trump told ABC News in an interview taped during his trip to Arizona to tour a mask production facility.

“Take a look at what’s going on. People are losing their jobs. We have to bring it back, and that’s what we’re doing,” he added. “We can’t sit in the house for the next three years.”

Echoing her new boss, new White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday evening made clear the president wants state leaders to make most of the remaining major decisions about how to deal with the health crisis and whether to reopen their states will be made in state capitals.

“This is a governor-led effort. The president has said that governors make the decisions as to move forward and we encourage them to follow our phased approach,” she told reporters during her second official briefing.