President Trump said Wednesday he could terminate the Russia investigation immediately, but he doesn’t want to.
Mr. Trump disparaged the ongoing investigation as a disgrace and embarrassment to the country but said ultimately he wants to it to play out by itself. He reiterated previous allegations of corruption and conflict of interest against those working on the special counsel probe.
“I could fire everybody right now,” he said during a press conference in the East Room of the White House. “But I don’t want to stop it. Politically, I don’t like stopping it.”
Mr. Trump said the administration is still seriously considering declassifying documents related to the Russia probe.
He originally ordered the declassification of a batch of documents including text messages from former FBI agents, interviews with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr and the FISA warrant for Carter Page in September.
The DOJ agreed to release the documents after carefully reviewing them and redacting sensitive information. Eight top Democrats demanded the DOJ submit the documents to their panel before giving them over to the White House.
At the time, Mr. Trump agreed to have the inspector general review them, but warned he could still override any decision on redactions if he thought it necessary.
“It’s amazing how people on the other side just don’t want those documents declassified,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday.
