Donald Trump says that even if he did collude with Russia, it is 'not a crime' - Independent

29/12/2017

Donald Trump says that even if he did collude with Russia, it is 'not a crime'

The President said 16 times no evidence of collusion had been uncovered

Andrew Buncombe New York

Both Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin have denied that Russia interfered in the 2016 election

Donald Trump has insisted there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia’s alleged election interference but claimed even if there had it would not have been “a crime”.

Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller has so far charged four people associated with the Trump campaign as part his probe into possible collusion with Moscow. The President has reportedly told friends he expects to be cleared “in writing”.

Now, Mr Trump has claimed even if there had been collusion between his team and Russia, it would not have amounted to something defined as a crime. He said he had come to the conclusion after watching the high-profile lawyer Alan Dershowitz speaking on television.

@BillKristol

Donald Trump repeated 16 times in his NYT interview that there was no collusion.

The president doth protest too much, methinks.

11:41 PM - Dec 29, 2017

“I watched Alan Dershowitz the other day, he said, No. 1, there is no collusion, No. 2, collusion is not a crime, but even if it was a crime, there was no collusion,” Mr Trump told the New York Times in a 30-minute interview.

“He said there was no collusion. And he has studied this thing very closely. I’ve seen him a number of times. There is no collusion, and even if there was, it’s not a crime. But there’s no collusion.”

The President’s interview with the newspaper he frequently condemns as “failing”, took place as he spends the Christmas holiday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He spoke to its reporters in the Grill Room at Trump International Golf Club at West Palm Beach, after eating lunch with his golf playing partners, including his son Eric, and professional golfer Jim Herman.

During the interview he repeated 16 times that there has been “no collusion” discovered by the inquiry. He also said he believed that Mr Mueller would treat him fairly.

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“It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position,” Mr Trump said of the investigation. “So the sooner it’s worked out, the better it is for the country.”

Asked if he would order the Justice Department to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton alleged misuse of a private email server, Mr Trump said he had the right to do so if he wanted.

“I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department,” he said. “But for purposes of hopefully thinking I’m going to be treated fairly, I’ve stayed uninvolved with this particular matter.”

Mr Trump also claimed the media will cover him in a more favourable light in 2018 - the President frequently tweets and speaks about what he calls “fake news” - because they are profiting from the interest generated by his occupancy of the White House.

“Another reason that I’m going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes,” he said.

“Without me, the New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times.”

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Mr Mueller has charged four people connected to Mr Trump’s campaign - former campaign manager Paul Manafort, his associate Rick Gates, former foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos and his fired national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Mr Flynn and Mr Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to charges of lying to the FBI and are cooperating with the investigation while the two other men have pleaded not guilty to charges that include money laundering.