WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump accused House Democrats of trying to continue a "phony witch hunt" against him by calling former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to testify about the Russia investigation.
"I have been attacked for two and a half years with a phony, dishonest, crooked group of people," he told Fox Business on Wednesday.
Mueller agreed to testify on July 17 in response to a subpoena from House Democrats. He's expected to appear before two different panels, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, in separate hearings on the same day.
Trump accused the Democrats of trying to distract from allegations he's fanned that the Russia investigation was handled improperly.
"The reason they're fighting so hard, they think it's going to be revealed," he said. "The real stuff. The real stuff is coming down."
Trump added, "They spied on my campaign."
The president, a former reality television star, has been keenly aware of the prolonged attention that Mueller's testimony would generate for the Russia investigation.
"Bob Mueller should not testify. No redos for the Dems!" he tweeted on May 5.
The president has falsely claimed that Mueller's work provided him with "total exoneration." In fact, the report explicitly said the investigation "does not exonerate" Trump on the question of whether he obstructed justice.
Mueller repeated that assessment when he made his only public statement before stepping down as special counsel last month.
