White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday called special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into possible ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia “a hoax and a waste of time.”
“We’d all be a lot better off if … Congress and the special counsel could come to the same conclusion that the rest of America has — that this is a hoax and a waste of time,” Sanders said on “Fox & Friends.”
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Mueller’s probe has led to indictments or guilty pleas for 32 people and three Russian companies.
Mueller has charged four former Trump campaign aides — Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates and George Papadopoulos — though none of the charges are related to misconduct by the president’s campaign.
Trump has continued to decry Mueller’s investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt,” though Mueller last week indicted 12 Russian intelligence officials for conspiring to influence the 2016 election by hacking Democratic organizations and individuals.
Members of the GOP have split with Trump regarding Mueller’s investigation. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) last week said he doesn’t believe Mueller’s investigation is a “witch hunt.”
Documents released on Saturday revealed that the FBI was probing former Trump aide Carter Page for possible links to Russia and used the so-called Steele dossier in part to obtain surveillance warrants on Page.
The agency concluded that Russia was trying to recruit Page to sow discord on U.S. soil.
Trump on Monday blasted the “Fake Dirty Dossier,” an opposition research compilation partially funded by former Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which alleges ties between Trump and the Kremlin. Trump and GOP lawmakers have repeatedly decried the dossier as false, and have extended the criticism to the documents about Page.
Officials, however, told the court they found the information to be “credible.” The warrant application was based on additional information and not just the dossier.