Trump falsely accuses Robert Mueller of deleting FBI emails and texts
- President Donald Trump falsely accused former special counsel Robert Mueller of illegally deleting emails and text messages between FBI agents during an interview on Wednesday morning.
- "Robert Mueller terminated their text messages together. He terminated them. They're gone. And that's illegal. That's a crime," Trump said.
- 19,000 FBI text messages were erased as the result of a technical glitch - not because Mueller "terminated" them, as Trump said.
- Trump's attacks came the morning after Democrats announced Mueller will testify publicly before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees on July 17.
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The president falsely accused former special counsel Robert Mueller of committing crimes during the course of the Russia investigation.
During an interview on Fox Business Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump claimed Mueller deleted emails and text messages between two FBI employees, lawyer Lisa Page and agent Peter Strzok.
Thousands of text messages between Page and Strzok, who were both privately critical of Trump and his decision to fire former FBI director James Comey, were released last year in the Department of Justice inspector general's report.
Another 19,000 FBI text messages were erased as the result of a technical glitch - not because Mueller "terminated" them, as Trump said.
"Mueller terminated them illegally. He terminated the emails, he terminated all of the stuff between Strzok and Page," Trump said. "Robert Mueller terminated their text messages together. He terminated them. They're gone. And that's illegal. That's a crime."
The president presented no new evidence that Mueller might have done so.
Trump's attacks came the morning after Democrats announced Mueller will testify publicly before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees on July 17.
In response to that news, Trump tweeted "Presidential Harassment!" on Tuesday night.
Read more: Trump threatens to expand his trade war by slapping tariffs on Vietnam
Trump spent the rest of his Fox Business interview attacking China, Vietnam, and the European Union's trade policies, and criticizing chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell for raising interest rates against his wishes.
Powell has said he won't bow to political pressure from the White House as Trump has repeatedly berated him.
"So now he's trying to prove how tough he is because 'he's not gonna get pushed around,'" Trump said. "Here's a guy - nobody ever heard of him before, and now, I made him, and he wants to show how tough he is ... Let him show how tough he is - he's not doing a good job,"