Donald Trump’s former chief adviser has warned the US president is “going to go full animal” after he was partially exonerated by Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Steve Bannon, who left the White House in 2017, predicted Mr Trump would “come off the chains” and use the special counsel’s findings to “bludgeon” his opponents and ignore congressional oversight requests for documents.
William Barr, the attorney general, sent a four-page letter to Congress outlining Mr Mueller’s conclusions following the sprawling 22-month probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia or Mr Trump obstructed justice.
Mr Mueller cleared Mr Trump of conspiracy with Russia, but he did not draw a conclusion on an obstruction charge. Mr Barr, though, concluded the evidence in the report – which has not been made public – was not enough to bring a prosecution.
“When I saw no new indictments – I thought, Oh my God! They didn’t indict anybody regarding the Flynn investigation, they didn’t indict Don Jr,” Mr Bannon told Yahoo News before Mr Barr submitted his letter on Sunday.
“Maybe [Mueller] could have details about obstruction of justice that are not indictable, but are meaningful.”
Mr Trump on Tuesday morning appeared to live up to his former adviser’s prediction, tweeting angrily about the media’s coverage of the probe.
“The Mainstream Media is under fire and being scorned all over the World as being corrupt and FAKE,” he wrote. “For two years they pushed the Russian Collusion Delusion when they always knew there was No Collusion. They truly are the Enemy of the People and the Real Opposition Party!”
He also shared a tweet by Tom Fitton, president of conservative activist group Judicial Watch, who claimed the probe was “deep state abuse” and called for a separate investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email use.
