US President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to complain about the special counsel investigating possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia while insisting that he, as president, has "complete power to pardon."
Trump, who defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in last year's presidential election but continues to use her as a foil, questioned why his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, and special counsel Robert Mueller were not investigating former FBI Director James Comey or Clinton, for her email practices as secretary of state.
The FBI decided last year not to recommend criminal charges against Clinton for her email practices. Trump fired Comey in May.
Sessions had been Trump's first supporter in the Senate before being named attorney general, but recently has become a lightning rod for Trump's anger over the probe into allegations of Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Sessions recused himself from the probe in March after having failed to disclose at his confirmation hearing that he had held meetings last year with Russia's ambassador.
The US Senate Judiciary Committee said on Friday that Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort had agreed to negotiate whether to be interviewed by the panel in its Russia investigation.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had inquired about his authority to issue pardons to aides, family members and perhaps himself as Mueller’s Russia probe widens.
Trump cited his power to pardon in the series of tweets on Saturday that focused ire on leaks to the news media.
Trump also had words for Republican senators who have not been able to agree on a way forward to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act, which has become known as Obamacare and which Trump promised to do away with as president.
Trump left on Saturday morning for a short trip to Norfolk, Virginia, where he will be present for the commissioning ceremony for an aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford.
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