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Watchdog: Trump 'Well Within His Rights' to Complain About 'Unconstitutional' Mueller Probe

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WASHINGTON – Apparently reaching the end of his patience, President Donald Trump is calling on his attorney general to put an immediate end to the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The probe is being led by special counsel Robert Mueller, who reportedly wants to question Trump about obstruction of justice.

"This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further," Trump tweeted about the investigation.

Sessions, however, recused himself from the matter last year after reports emerged that he met with the Russian ambassador to the US in 2016. It was a revelation that contradicted his congressional testimony that he'd had no contact with Russian officials during the campaign.

Subsequently, Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to spearhead the probe.

"Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!" a livid Trump tweeted Wednesday.

Trump's ire comes amidst the ongoing trial of his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

"Paul Manafort worked for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other highly prominent and respected political leaders. He worked for me for a very short time. Why didn't government tell me that he was under investigation. These old charges have nothing to do with Collusion - a Hoax!" the president tweeted Wednesday.

The president's latest tweets have given Democrats new fuel to argue that Trump is seeking to impinge on the independence of the special counsel's investigation.

"The President of the United States just called on his Attorney General to put an end to an investigation in which the President, his family and campaign may be implicated," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) tweeted.

"This is an attempt to obstruct justice hiding in plain sight," the top intelligence committee Democrat added. "America must never accept it."

But Tom Fitton, president of the watchdog group Judicial Watch, tells CBN News the president did nothing wrong.  

"The president is in charge of the Justice Department,” Fitton noted. "He has a right to have input and direct how the Justice Department is operated and his complaints about the Mueller operation are not only well within his rights as the president but certainly well within his rights as a citizen."

Likewise, Fitton agreed with the president that it's "well past time for the special counsel to be shut down.”

Judicial Watch just uncovered new emails written by Peter Strzok, the FBI agent who worked on the Russia investigation and whose derogatory text messages about Trump sparked claims of bias.

“It's unconstitutional,” Fitton said of the Mueller probe. “It was corruptly formed. We now have information about bias of some of its key officials, such as Peter Strzok, who had to be removed."

Fitton says the emails show Strzok was desperate to keep his security clearance as a senior counterintelligence official.

"So the question is, given his dishonesty and record of misconduct, should we trust what he was doing with these special authorities while he was in the Mueller special counsel operation?" Fitton asked.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that because of Sessions' recusal, Trump would not be able to sack Mueller himself. Instead, he would have to order Rosenstein to do so – and thus far, the deputy attorney general has been supportive of the probe.

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