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By Adam Edelman
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he did not know Matt Whitaker – the man to whom he had asked to replace Jeff Sessions as Acting Attorney General – and asserted that he was not responsible 39; had not discussed the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller with him.
"I did not talk to Matt Whitaker" about the federal inquiry into Russian interference in the elections, Trump told reporters at White House South Lawn on Friday.
"I do not know Matt Whitaker," Trump added. "He has always been extremely appreciated and always is."
Whitaker, who had been Sessions' chief of staff since the end of 2017, was called by Trump on Wednesday to become Acting Attorney General after the resignation of Sessions at the request of the president.
He assumes the role of overseeing Mueller's work of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and will, at least temporarily, be able to have a significant impact on the scope of the investigation.
The sessions were challenged to oversee the investigation because of his participation in Trump's presidential campaign.
In an interview broadcast less than a month ago, Trump said he "knew Whitaker".
"I can tell you that Matt Whitaker is a great guy, I know Matt Whitaker," he told "Fox and Friends" in a phone interview on October 11th.
Meanwhile, on Friday, when asked if Whitaker should recuse himself, as Sessions was doing, with the Mueller investigation, Trump replied, "I see all these people on TV making comments, they do not. do not recite. "
"If everybody on TV makes comments, you will not have anyone left. Commenting on emissions does not mean you are not qualified, "Trump said.
When asked if he wanted Whitaker to "end Mueller," Trump replied, "What a stupid question."
Whitaker has an entangled history with the Mueller probe.
In the summer of 2017, when he was a conservative legal commentator on CNN, he repeatedly expressed reservations about the investigation of Russia at some point on the question of how a skilled Attorney General could secretly starve him of funds.
Two years ago, Whitaker, former federal prosecutor of Iowa, was campaigning chairman of a politician from Iowa, who later became an important witness in the Mueller investigation. .
And within the Department of Justice, Whitaker was considered a White House agent, told NBC News an administration official and a former US attorney.
Twitter verified by Whitaker the account has been blocked, preventing non-followers from seeing its timeline and past tweets.
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