Trump said 'you have to get rid of' the Russia probe and parroted a Kremlin talking point in a wide-ranging interview

Business Insider      SONAM SHETH (SSHETH@BUSINESSINSIDER.COM)     Feb 3rd 2019
During a wide-ranging interview on CBS' "Face The Nation," President Donald Trump said "you have to get rid of the Russia investigation," parroted a Kremlin talking point, downplayed the crimes members of his inner circle pleaded guilty to, and suggested he may object to the release of a final report in the Russia probe.
He referred to the 12 Russian military intelligence officers and 13 Russian nationals aligned with the Kremlin who have been charged as "bloggers."
He also defended the longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone, who was recently arrested and charged with lying to Congress, obstruction, and witness tampering. Trump said he has "not thought about" pardoning Stone yet.
And while the president initially said it's up to the attorney general whether or not to release the special counsel Robert Mueller's final report, Trump walked his comment back, saying, "I don't know. It depends. I have no idea what it's going to say." 
President Donald Trump unleashed his frustration about the Russia investigation and the special counsel Robert Mueller during a wide-ranging interview on CBS' "Face The Nation" that aired Sunday.

Among other things, the president said "you have to get rid of the Russia witch hunt" and attempted to downplay the indictments and guilty pleas so far, many of which have come from members of his inner circle.

Thirty-four people have been charged as part of the investigation, which is examining Russia's interference in the 2016 US election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow. Several people, including the former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the former campaign manager Paul Manafort, the former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates, and Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, have pleaded guilty.

Asked to address the indictments and guilty pleas, Trump replied, " Of the 34 people, many of them were bloggers from Moscow or they were people that had nothing to do with me, had nothing to do with what they're talking about, or there were people that got caught telling a fib or telling a lie."

The "bloggers" the president referenced are 12 Russian military intelligence officers and 13 Russian nationals working for a troll farm supported by the Kremlin. By calling them bloggers, Trump appeared to be echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that many of the Russians who were indicted are merely independent hackers who are not aligned with the Kremlin. But US intelligence officials say the defense is a red herring because the Kremlin rarely carries out its own orders. Instead, Putin is known to use proxies to do his dirty work to maintain plausible deniability.

Meanwhile, Cohen, Manafort, Flynn, Gates, and the former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos all pleaded guilty to lying to Congress or the FBI — which is a felony — about their Russia contacts or business dealings involving Russia during the election. Manafort and Gates also pleaded guilty to other crimes including conspiracy and obstruction. All of them are currently cooperating or formerly cooperated with prosecutors.

"I think it's a terrible thing that's happened to this country because this investigation is a witch hunt," Trump told CBS' Margaret Brennan. "When you look at General Flynn where the FBI said he wasn't lying, but Robert Mueller said he was, and they took a man and destroyed his life. When you look at so many of the things that have happened — why didn't they go after Hillary Clinton for her emails? She had 33,000 emails that were deleted after receiving a subpoena from Congress."

Brennan interjected and asked Trump about the longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone, who was indicted in January for lying to Congress about his interactions involving WikiLeaks, obstruction, and witness tampering.

"First of all, Roger Stone didn't work on the campaign, except way, way at the beginning, long before we're talking about," Trump responded. "Roger is somebody that I've always liked, but a lot of people like Roger — some people probably don't like Roger — but Roger Stone's somebody I've always liked."

Stone was an informal adviser to the Trump campaign in the early stages of the race. Even after he stopped advising the campaign, Stone and Trump had frequent late-night phone calls. Both Stone and Trump have said they did not discuss WikiLeaks, Russia, or WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during their calls.

But prosecutors are said to be zeroing in on those calls, one of which took place in early August 2016, hours after Stone learned from his associate, Jerome Corsi, that WikiLeaks had obtained "damaging" information on the Clinton campaign and was planning on releasing it soon.

Prosecutors also dropped a bombshell when they revealed that a senior Trump campaign official "was directed" by someone else on the campaign to stay in touch with Stone about WikiLeaks' planned document dumps.

Stone pleaded not guilty to all the charges and struck a defiant tone following his arrest. He also went on a media blitz asserting his innocence, and he stacked his team with a well known First Amendment lawyer, indicating that he intends to fight a gag order if one is imposed on him.

"Would you pardon him?" Brennan asked Trump.

"I have not thought about it," Trump said. "It looks like he's defending himself very well. But you have to get rid of the Russia witch hunt."

Mueller dropped a huge bombshell in Roger Stone's indictment, and it's bad news for Trump

Mueller is said to be putting together a report of his key findings in the Russia investigation that will be submitted to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. When a new attorney general — likely William Barr, a former White House lawyer in the George H.W. Bush administration who also served as attorney general — is confirmed, they would decide whether to release the report to Congress, which would in turn be able to release it to the public.

Asked whether he would elect to have the Mueller report made public, Trump initially said it was "totally up to the attorney general."

Later, he walked back his comments, saying, "I don't know. It depends. I have no idea what it's going to say."

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THE RUSSIA RUNDOWN: Stone's indictment, Whitaker hints at the Mueller probe's timeline, and Cohen prepares to face Congress
Mueller's office was targeted by a Russian disinformation campaign in an effort to discredit the investigation
Stay tuned :  As The Stomach Turns

Witchy sez : I'm back !  Did you miss  me ?
Mueller has evidence. (YES, we WILL see it!)  Trump has denial.  Trump and his campaign have certainly been caught lying a LOT about all those contacts they "DIDN'T" have with Russians!
Trump wanting the Russia probe to go away is like Gotti and Capone wanting investigations of them to go away.  The investigation will go away after Trump is PUT AWAY!---Bigly!  Every time you shake the 'RUSSIA TREE ,' a Trump campaign member falls out!  That investigation is 'NOT GOING AWAY  TRUMP.'  Read the constitution (It's clear trump never did)  "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." But of course that's a real fact so you won't believe it like any good sheep.  
When the entire world can ascertain the insanity of Trump and his policies or lack thereof, then the United States of America has reached a new low. We deserve better than this mentally deficient fool. Time for Congress to finally do their job and impeach or 25th Amendment. He is indeed a danger to our country and democracy. Enough of this prolonged misery!!!!!     When we allow 33% or less of Americans to rule this great country with their lower than average IQ and the Piped Piper leading them over the cliff, we have become a nation of fools. Time for everyone to contact their representatives and demand an impeachment.   
Russia is not our friend .  Russia is a criminal empire trying to recapture land lost when it
was the Soviet Union.  They do not want NATO around, because they are the only one's
keeping them in check, as Trump refuses to recognize the theat Russia has for America. 
A bigger theat to America is the cash coming from Russia into our election process,
Cash from Russia has ended up in the campaign chests of many US politicians, Maybe this
is the reason they refuse to act on Trump.   Why is Herr Trumpe saying the Russian investigation needs to go away ?  Is it clouding his judgement so much that he can't get anything else done ?  Oh wait.....what has he really done ?  NOTHING !!   
People who dislike Donald: The entire Democratic party... Most Independents (myself included)… Any Republican with a brain (Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Roy Blunt etc)… All four living Presidents… The FBI… The CIA… The NFL…The NBA…. The entire media aside from Fox News... Pretty much everyone in the field of science… The Pope (and really ALL true Christians)… Justin Trudeau… Ani DiFranco… The Queen of England… Noam Chomsky... Most of Hollywood.... The vast majority of women... Bruce Springsteen... Billy Joel… The leaders of most European and Asian countries... Glenn Beck… Melania Trump… Most of his cabinet… And the list goes on!
People who like Donald: Vladimir Putin, Kanye West, Roseanne Barr and some ignorant hicks that the rest of the world is laughing at…
Which side are YOU on?     Muellers Investigation netted 6  Witches
Flynn.....GUILTY
Papadopoulas......Guilty
Manafort.......Guilty
Cohen.....Guilty
Gates......Guilty
Stone.......Arrested....7 Count
Funny how this witch hunt has found a lot of witches so far eh?
Nuff said              HeHe