According to an exclusive CNN report, a federal grand jury has approved the first charges in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The individuals in question could be taken into custody as early as Monday, according to CNN.
This morning, Donald Trump went on a Twitter tirade in which he described allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia as a "witch hunt." The president then attempted to deflect attention by tweeting about his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, claiming that she should be the subject of a Russia investigation.
Trump lodged a barrage of accusations against Clinton, ranging from what he referred to as the "Fake Dossier," the Uranium deal (a claim that has been debunked by nonpartisan fact-checking sites), the "Comey fix," and Clinton's emails.
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"DO SOMETHING!" Trump tweeted, although he didn't elaborate upon who should take action against Clinton.
Never seen such Republican ANGER & UNITY as I have concerning the lack of investigation on Clinton made Fake Dossier (now $12,000,000?),....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2017
...the Uranium to Russia deal, the 33,000 plus deleted Emails, the Comey fix and so much more. Instead they look at phony Trump/Russia,....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2017
..."collusion," which doesn't exist. The Dems are using this terrible (and bad for our country) Witch Hunt for evil politics, but the R's...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2017
...are now fighting back like never before. There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2017
All of this "Russia" talk right when the Republicans are making their big push for historic Tax Cuts & Reform. Is this coincidental? NOT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2017
Although Trump's tweets claim that Republicans are more united than ever, it appears that a few members of the GOP missed the memo. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press this morning, Republican Senator Rob Portman said Trump has been "too defensive" about the Mueller inquiry. "We ought to instead focus on the outrage that the Russians meddled in our elections," Portman added.
Representative Trey Gowdy appeared on Fox News Sunday and urged his fellow Republicans to let Mueller "do his job." Senator Susan Collins, a Republican who cast a key vote in the "Skinny" Obamacare repeal, appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation this morning and stated that, although she hasn't seen any "definitive evidence of collusion," she has seen "lots of evidence that the Russians were very active in trying to influence the elections."
The United States Intelligence Community has concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election and deliberately targeted Hillary Clinton's campaign. In May, Mueller was appointed to oversee the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and members of the Trump campaign.