Donald Trump accuses Robert Mueller of trying to influence 2018 midterm elections

The president is sharpening his attacks against the special counsel

Donald Trump has sharpened his attacks against special counsel Robert Mueller, accusing him of attempting to ‘impact’ the upcoming midterms (AFP/Getty)

Donald Trump has once again lashed out at Robert Mueller, accusing the special counsel of attempting to influence the 2018 midterm elections.

The president attacked the head of the federal probe into Russian election meddling and possible collusion in a strongly worded – and misspelled – tweet storm on Monday morning.

“Disgraced and discredited Bob Mueller and his whole group of Angry Democrat Thugs spent over 30 hours with the White House Councel [sic], only with my approval, for purposes of transparency,” he wrote, acknowledging recent reports that White House lawyer Don McGahn has cooperated with investigators across a series of interviews. “Anybody needing that much time when they know there is no Russian Collusion is just someone....”

Over the weekend, Mr Trump insisted his general counsel isn’t a “RAT” and accused Mr Mueller’s team of “looking for trouble”. He contrasted McGahn with John Dean, the White House counsel for Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Mr Dean ultimately cooperated with prosecutors and helped bring down the Nixon presidency in 1974, though he served a prison term for obstruction of justice.

“The failing @nytimes wrote a Fake piece today implying that because White House Councel Don McGahn was giving hours of testimony to the Special Councel [sic], he must be a John Dean type ‘RAT,’” Mr Trump wrote on Sunday.

“But I allowed him and all others to testify – I didn’t have to. I have nothing to hide......”, the president wrote.

Mr Dean, a frequent critic of Mr Trump, tweeted in response that he doubts the president has “ANY IDEA what McGahn has told Mueller. Also, Nixon knew I was meeting with prosecutors, b/c I told him. However, he didn’t think I would tell them the truth!”

On Monday Mr Trump went as far as calling Mr Mueller and his team “a national disgrace”.

“They are enjoying ruining people’s lives and REFUSE to look at the real corruption on the Democrat side – the lies, the firings, the deleted Emails and soooo much more!” Mr Trump wrote. “Mueller’s Angry Dems are looking to impact the election. They are a National Disgrace!”

Mr Trump was echoing allegations made in recent weeks by his personal lawyer, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Mr Giuliani has called for the special counsel to end its investigation ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in November, demanding a deadline of 7 September to submit its report to the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

Mr Trump’s lawyer has also accused Mr Mueller of having flouted a DOJ policy reportedly stating “to refrain from investigatory activity in 60 day period before election”, though experts have noted no such guideline is in place affecting Mr Mueller’s probe.

“This long-standing policy is clear on its face,” Jamie Gorelick, former deputy attorney general during Bill Clinton’s administration, told CNN. “Of course it does not require an investigation to be terminated. Indeed, there are many examples of investigations that continued during and through elections.”

Mr Giuliani, speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, said that Mr Trump did not raise the issue of executive privilege or attorney-client privilege about interviews such as those undertaken by Mr McGahn because his team believed – he says now, wrongly – that fully participating would be the fastest way to bring the investigation to a close.

“The president encouraged him to testify, is happy that he did, is quite secure that there is nothing in the testimony that will hurt the president,” Mr Giuliani said of Mr McGahn.

The Russia investigation appeared to be at the top of the president’s mind throughout the weekend, as Mr Trump repeatedly tweeted his claims of “No Collusion and No Obstruction”.

By Monday morning, those claims appeared to become a rhetorical question.

“Where’s the Collusion?” the president wrote in a tweet an hour after attacking Mr Mueller. “They made up a phony crime called Collusion, and when there was no Collusion they say there was Obstruction (of a phony crime that never existed). If you FIGHT BACK or say anything bad about the Rigged Witch Hunt, they scream Obstruction!”

The investigation has been a cloud over the entirety of Mr Trump’s presidency, as he reportedly has grappled with a decision to sit down for an interview with the special counsel. Mr Giuliani has advised him against meeting with Mr Mueller over the threat that questions may lead to him being trapped into a lie, telling Chuck Todd on Meet the Press: “I’m not going to be rushed into having him testify so he gets trapped into perjury.”

During that interview Mr Giuliani made the bizarre claim that “truth isn’t truth” when it comes to the Mueller probe.

“When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth,” Mr Giuliani said. When told by Mr Todd that “truth is truth”, Mr Giuliani added: “No, it isn’t truth... Truth isn’t truth.”