As his legal team readies a more aggressive approach to dealing with special counsel Robert Mueller, President Trump is channeling former President Bill Clinton — husband of the candidate he defeated in the 2016 election — as he argues the Russia investigation is distracting him from more important public business.
“We have the best employment numbers we’ve virtually ever had and yet all we ever hear about is this phony Russia witch hunt,” Trump told NRA members Friday. “Let me tell you, folks. We’re all fighting battles, but I love fighting these battles.”
Asked about shifting explanations of the Stormy Daniels payout before leaving Washington for the NRA gathering, Trump berated the reporter. “All I’m telling you is that this country is right now running so smooth,” the president said. “And to be bringing up that kind of crap, and to be bringing up witch hunts all the time — that’s all you want to talk about.”
“But what I do want you to do is look at our economy,” Trump later added. “Today, we broke 4 percent; 3.9 percent we hit today for the first time in many, many years. We’re really proud of it, and we’ll talk to you folks later.”
It’s not all that different from Clinton’s response to the Monica Lewinsky scandal and other matters being pursued by independent counsel Kenneth Starr, under the news media’s watchful eye.
“These allegations are false,” Clinton said. “And I need to go back to work for the American people.”
Top Clinton aides decried the Starr investigation as “corrupt,” “out of control,” and, yes, a “witch hunt.”
‘There are serious questions of wrongdoing here,” Clintonite Paul Begala told NBC News’ ”Meet the Press” back in 1998, ”and I think we need a truly independent investigation of the investigation itself, so that we can know who’s behind these lies, who is behind these leaks, and let the investigation continue.”
Just as Clinton and his defenders (including Hillary) cast Starr as part of the “vast right-wing conspiracy,” Trump and his supporters have sought to undercut the Mueller team’s nonpartisanship and impartiality.
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Trump follows the Bill Clinton playbook with Robert Mueller https://t.co/INPsjeVoSb pic.twitter.com/tXR4TjPRJI
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 7, 2018
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