President Trump’s comments on social media about the Russia investigation have prompted lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to issue a warning: tweet at your own risk.
“I would just say this with the president: There’s an ongoing criminal investigation,” Graham said on the CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“You tweet and comment regarding ongoing criminal investigations at your own peril,” he added.
Trump said on Sunday he never asked former FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating Michael Flynn, which contradicts Comey’s account.
“I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!” he said.
I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2017
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, also referenced Trump’s tweets as possibly being evidence of obstruction of justice.
“I see it in the hyper-frenetic attitude of the White House, the comments every day, the continual tweets. And I see it most importantly in what happened with the firing of [FBI Director James] Comey, and it is my belief that that is directly because he did not agree to ‘lift the cloud’ of the Russia investigation. That’s obstruction of justice,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Trump’s attorney, John Dowd, told Reuters Sunday that he had drafted the tweet and made “a mistake.”
“The mistake was I should have put the lying to the FBI in a separate line referencing his plea,” Dowd said. “Instead, I put it together and it made all you guys go crazy. A tweet is a shorthand.”
Nevertheless, Dowd said it would be the last time he tweeted for the president.
"I’ll take responsibility,” he added. “I’m sorry I misled people.”