Trump says he won't get involved in the Russia investigation but 'I may change my mind'

(Getty)

Donald Trump says he has decided not to be involved in the ongoing Justice Department Russia probe, but “may change my mind”.

In an interview on Fox News in which he made a series of comments on wide-ranging topics, he attacked former FBI Director James Comey and said the -hands-off approach he had taken in regard to the Department of Justice – given the ongoing probe of possible collusion between his election campaign and Moscow – could change.

“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’ve 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,” he said, speaking on the show Fox and Friends.

Phoning into the conservative network’s morning show that he is known to be a regular viewer of, Mr Trump claimed that “nobody had been tougher on Russia on me – you can ask Putin about that”.

He added: “Nobody has been tougher. There was no collusion….What Comey did was terrible, he leaked classified material. He leaked memos about me and they were phoney.

“Look, Comey is a leaker and a liar, but not only on this stuff.”

Mr Trump fired Mr Comey on May 9 last year, as he grew increasingly agitated about the direction being taken by the FBI’s investigation into Russian’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Mr Trump’s campaign and Moscow.

Yet the decision to fire Mr Comey, whom he dismissed as a “showboat”, put in motion a series of events, including the decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the matter, and the appointment of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

The investigation by Mr Mueller, himself a former FBI Director, has so far resulted in indictments being filed against four former members of the Trump campaign, including his one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Mueller has also charged a Dutch lawyer and more than a dozen Russian individuals and companies. Mr Manafort has pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen charges.

Previously, Mr Trump had said he was prepared to speak to Mr Mueller, something his lawyers do not want him to do, because he believed such a move would help him.

Last month, while appearing before the media for a ceremony at the White House in which he signed a memorandum directing the US Trade Representative to impose an estimated $50bn in tariffs on China, he was asked if he would like to testify, he replied: “Yes. I would like to.”

In January he was asked by reporters if would testify “under oath”. He said: “I’m looking forward to it, actually.”

Mr Trump’s comments came as the Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to vote on a bill to protect Mr Mueller’s job. There has been widespread speculation that Mr Trump has long wanted to fire him and has at several occasions been on the brink of doing so.

Two Republicans and two Democrats introduced the bill earlier this month. The Associated Press said measure under consideration would give any special counsel a 10-day window to seek expedited judicial review of his or her firing and would put into law existing Justice Department regulations that a special counsel must be fired for good cause.

A handful of Republicans have supported it, but most have opposed it, arguing that it is unconstitutional or unnecessary.