Donald Trump hints at payback for 'evil' enemies after he is absolved of Russia collusion

Trump: there are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things
AP

Donald Trump has hinted at payback for his “evil” political enemies after he was absolved of colluding with Russia.

Mr Trump has since hit out saying no other president should be investigated over “a false narrative”.

Speaking at the Oval Office on Monday, he launched an attack on unnamed political enemies.

"There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country," Mr Trump said.

The Republican president and his allies in Congress went on the offensive a day after the release of a summary of Mr Mueller's report.

The findings gave Mr Trump a political victory ahead of his 2020 re-election bid. No allegations of criminal wrongdoing brought against him at the end of a nearly two-year-long inquiry.

Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and an ally of Mr Trump, said he would ask US Attorney General William Barr to appoint a special counsel to investigate the origins of the Russia probe, which was first handled by the FBI and then by Mr Mueller after the president fired the agency's director, James Comey, in May 2017.

Mr Trump pledged that new investigations would be launched but did not specify who would conduct them or who should be targeted. He has in the past has called for investigations of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate he defeated in 2016.

"Those people will certainly be looked at. I've been looking at them for a long time," Mr Trump said in the Oval Office sitting alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "And I'm saying: why haven't they been looked at? They lied to Congress. Many of them. You know who they are."

Mr Trump speaking to reporters on Friday morning
AP

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders called for congressional hearings to investigate prominent critics of Mr Trump, including former US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, Comey and other FBI figures.

The end of the Mueller inquiry did not spell the end of the investigative pressure on Mr Trump. Democrats gave no indication of easing up on their multiple congressional investigations into his business and personal dealings.

"I love this country as much I can love anything: my family, my country, my God," Mr Trump said. "But what they did. It was a false narrative. It was terrible thing. We can never let this happen to another president again."

Mr Trump had repeatedly accused Mr Mueller, a former FBI director, of running a "witch hunt" with a team of "thugs" and having conflicts of interest. But when asked on Monday if Mr Mueller had acted honourably, Mr Trump said: "Yes."

Trump also said he had not thought about pardoning anyone convicted or who pleaded guilty in the Mueller probe.

They include several of his former aides such as former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

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