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John Wagner
National journalist heads the political press team at The Post newspaper
President Trump went on Twitter Monday morning to cite recent comments from conservative lawmakers and experts as he continued to voice grievances regarding congressional Democrats' efforts to obtain the full report of the Special Advocate and his tax returns.
In a series of tweets, Trump – who, until recently, had declared to have no problem with the publication of the full report of the special advocate Robert S. Mueller III on the interference of the Russia in the 2016 election – cited the point of view of commentators wondering whether Democrats should have had access or not and asserting that they were trying to weaken Trump politically.
In a tweet, Trump quoted Katie Pavlich, Townhall.com's editor-in-chief, as saying the House Judiciary Committee Chair, Jerry Nadler (DN.Y.), was "not entitled" to the full report and Underlying documents produced by Mueller, who investigated coordinated campaign with Russia in 2016 and whether Trump sought to obstruct the probe.
During a segment devoted to "Fox News Sunday," Pavlich said the Democrats were looking to "get as much information and political ammunition as possible for the final candidate."
According to a four-page summary of the main conclusions of the Mueller report provided by Attorney General William P. Barr in Congress, Trump and his campaign were not coordinating illegally with Russia, but Mueller left open the question of whether Trump was obstructing to justice. Barr announced that he had concluded that Trump had not committed obstruction.
Last month, President Trump stopped to talk to the media as he headed for Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House. (Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post)
Nadler's committee voted last week to allow him to assign the full report. The Department of Justice is expected to release a redacted version this week.
In another tweet on Monday, Trump quoted Washington Times editor Charles Hurt as saying the Democrats "have invented this complete lie about collusion."
"The Russian hoax never happened, it was a fraud on the American people!", Added Trump in his own words.
The president also clamped down on the efforts of the Democrats-led Ways and Means Committee to get Trump six years of personal and corporate income tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service.
In one case, Trump retweeted Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a frequent and Republican ally on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, stating that "Dems wants the president's tax returns for purely political! "
"Scary, but should not surprise us – the same people used the IRS to target Americans on the basis of their political beliefs!" Writes Jordan in a Saturday tweet highlighted by Trump.
Trump also tweeted a C-SPAN clip in which Jordan defended Trump's promise to fight disclosure of his tax returns in an interview.
Trump's tweets took place Monday, a day after his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said the Democrats would never see the president's tax returns, abandoning Trump's long-defended stance that he would publish one day the documents for public inspection.
[Mulvaney says Democrats will ‘never’ see Trump’s tax returns]
Mulvaney and other Trump allies have spent the weekend designating the Democrats as politically motivated for formally asking the IRS to report them.
Trump broke the previous one as a presidential candidate when he refused to publish his tax returns, citing an ongoing audit of the IRS.
Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, sent a letter to the IRS requesting that tax returns be submitted to Congress by Wednesday. Trump said he was ready to challenge the claim until the US Supreme Court. A Trump lawyer has already asked the Treasury Department to reject Democrats' claim, calling it "blatant abuse of power."
Colby Itkowitz contributed to this report.
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