Administration

Trump says he’ll leave decision on releasing Mueller report to Justice

President Trump said Wednesday that he would leave decisions on how to handle special counsel Robert Mueller’s report once it is finished to the Justice Department.

“They’ll have to make their decision within the Justice Department,” Trump told the Daily Caller in an interview published Wednesday. “They will make the decision as to what they do.”

His comments come just days after Whitaker said Mueller’s probe would be complete soon.

Trump added that he has not spoken to Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker about the end of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

{mosads}“I haven’t spoken to him about that,” Trump told the news outlet when asked a direct question.

Trump also commented on the amount of time the investigation has gone on for, saying that “after almost two years, it certainly should be” wrapping up.

Trump’s attorney general pick William Barr told a Senate panel earlier this month that Trump has not asked him about his views on the Mueller report and the “substance” of Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election. Mueller is also probing whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.

Trump also told the Daily Caller that he believed the FBI’s arrest of his longtime friend Roger Stone was “very unusual” and “a disappointing scene.”

Stone’s arrest resulted from an indictment Mueller filed alleging Stone made false statements, engaged in witness tampering and interfered with a congressional investigation.

“You know, I’ve stayed out of that whole situation because there was no collusion whatsoever,” Trump told the Daily Caller. “There was no nothing done wrong. And frankly, I could have waded in very early. I could have ended it very easily if I wanted to. But just let it run its course.”

This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. on January 31.