Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) urged President Donald Trump with the exceptional lawyer on Sunday to avoid flailing at special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in order to let the probe continue unimpeded.
"If you find yourself innocent – are like it," Gowdy said on “Fox News Sunday" when inquired about Trump’s repeated Twitter attacks on Mueller, whose probe has become increasingly perilous on the president along with his group of friends. "If you have ever done nothing wrong, you should want the analysis being as fulsome and thorough as it can be."
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Gowdy’s comments came per day after Trump’s attorney John Dowd needed Mueller’s investigation to be turned off. Gowdy issued the identical exhortation to Dowd: "If you have an innocent client, Mr. Dowd, behave like it.”
Trump himself spent the weekend lobbing repeated Twitter attacks at Mueller’s investigation over the weekend, including on Sunday, whilst labeled Mueller’s team of prosecutors "hardened Democrats."
"The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was not collusion where there was not crime," Trump tweeted Saturday evening, naming Mueller in a tweet for the first time.
It’s unclear why Trump, who until the other day largely spared Mueller’s probe from attacks, reversed course. But the decision follows what is this great that Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for records, a line Trump has previously suggested may very well be past an acceptable limit.
Gowdy’s comments were notable at a senior GOP lawmaker who has been deeply involved with the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian interference while in the 2016 election. The committee’s Republicans concluded yesterday they found no evidence Trump or his allies aided the Russian effort, but Gowdy emphasized his or her finding was limited since they were unable to interview central witnesses bound while in the Mueller probe. Those witnesses – former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn yet others – have either pleaded guilty or face indictment. Another House witness, former White House aide Steve Bannon, declined to answer a number of the committee’s questions, Gowdy noted.
"You don’t know that which you do not know," he was quoted saying, adding, "Throughout the universe in people who we’ve interviewed, there is not any collusion" between Trump associates and Russia.
Gowdy also said he will "withhold judgment" on your house Justice Department’s decision to fireside former deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe a couple of days before his scheduled retirement was the right punishment for allegations that McCabe lied to investigators.
Though McCabe has blamed Trump and his allies for tarring his reputation and orchestrating his ouster, Gowdy argued that "McCabe has tarnished his credibility all by himself." Gowdy noted it was subsequently independent investigators along with a Justice Department review board that determined McCabe deserved being fired for "loss of candor."
But he was quoted saying he needs to start to see the full report of McCabe’s conduct before passing judgment for the punishment.
"The FBI is who recommended that they be fired," Gowdy said. “It wasn’t crazy House Republicans, also it wasn’t the Trump administration. That it was her own fellow agents."
