President Trump waves as he crosses the White House South Lawn on Friday.
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
President Trump slammed the FBI and praised Vladimir Putin during an
impromptu press conference on the White House lawn Friday morning.
Before leaving for a graduation ceremony at the National FBI Academy, Trump excoriated the bureau over its “really disgraceful” handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
“We're going to rebuild the FBI,” he pledged.
Just hours later, Attorney General Jeff Sessions distanced himself from
those comments, telling reporters at the Justice Department that he
does not share Trump’s assessment. Trump trashes ‘disgraceful’ FBI, voices loyalty to police
Trump chats with Russian President Vladimir Putin last November.
(MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP/Getty Images)
“I don't share the view that the FBI is not functioning at a high level all over the country,” Sessions said.
The President has spent the past few weeks complaining about a perceived anti-Trump bias within the FBI, asserting over Twitter that “its reputation is in tatters.”
While he didn't have many positive things to say about the FBI, Trump
commended Russian President Vladimir Putin for saying “very nice things”
about him during a “great” phone call on Thursday.
“He said very nice things about what I have done for this country in
terms of the economy, but he said also some negative things in terms of
what is going on elsewhere,” Trump told reporters. Putin lauds Trump's economic feats, calls Russia probe 'delirium'
Trump added that he “would love” to have Russia's help in putting
pressure on the North Korean regime to drop its nuclear weapons
ambitions.
Mirroring statements made by Putin, Trump also insisted that “there was
no collusion” between his campaign and the Russian government, blasting
special prosecutor Robert Mueller's sweeping investigation as a
“Democratic hoax.”
President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a graduation ceremony at the FBI Academy.
(JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)
“It was an excuse for losing the election and it should have never been
this way where they spend all these millions of dollars,” he said.
To date, Mueller's probe has produced federal indictments against four
Trump associates, and two guilty pleas. That includes ex-national
security adviser Michael Flynn, who pledged to cooperate with
investigators earlier this month after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian diplomat. Ex-Trump official Paul Manafort released from home confinement
Finally, Trump called on Roy Moore to concede the contentious Alabama Senate race to Democrat Doug Jones, who was declared the winner on Tuesday night.
“He tried,” Trump said of Moore, whom he fully endorsed despite
numerous allegations that he had sexually assaulted or harassed teenage
girls. “I want to support, always, I want to support the person running.
We need the seat. We would like to have the seat.”
Despite final polls showing him losing by more than 20,000 votes, Moore
has refused to concede the race, telling supporters that he's still
waiting on “the final count to include military and provisional
ballots."”
“He said very nice things about what I have done for this country in
terms of the economy, but he said also some negative things in terms of
what is going on elsewhere,” Trump told reporters.
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