Nov. 3 (UPI) — Leaving for an extended trip to Asia Friday, President Donald Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House — saying he’s “disappointed” the U.S. Department of Justice hasn’t investigated the Democratic Party over recent claims about the campaign of Hillary Clinton.
On his way to Marine One on the South Lawn, Trump said the department should be looking into the Democratic National Committee over claims by former party chairwoman Donna Brazile in her new book that the committee fixed the 2016 presidential primary for Hillary Clinton.
“I’m really not involved with the Justice Department. I’d like to let it run itself. But honestly, they should be looking at the Democrats,” Trump said.
“They should be looking at … all of that dishonesty. They should be looking at a lot of things, and a lot of people are disappointed in the Justice Department, including me.
“You ought to look at Hillary Clinton and you ought to look at the new book that was just put out by Donna Brazile where [Clinton] basically bought the DNC and she stole the election from Bernie [Sanders].”
Earlier Friday, the president voiced concern on the issue on his Twitter page.
“Everybody is asking why the Justice Department (and FBI) isn’t looking into all of the dishonesty going on with Crooked Hillary & the Dems,” He tweeted, calling for the Justice Department to investigate.
Before Trump boarded the presidential helicopter to depart, he also said a meeting he had with former campaign aide George Papadopoulos — who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI — was insignificant.
“I don’t remember much about that meeting. It was a very unimportant meeting,” he said.
Trump also addressed the ongoing Russia investigation and the terror attack this week in New York City.
“All I can tell you is this. There was no collusion, there was no nothing. It’s a disgrace, frankly, that they continue,” he said of the probe.
“Every time we are attacked, from this point forward, we are hitting them ten times harder,” Trump said of terrorists. “So when we have an animal do an attack like he did the other day … we are hitting them ten times harder. [The Islamic State] claimed him as a soldier — good luck.
“Every time they hit us — we know it’s ISIS — we [will] hit them like you folks won’t believe.”
Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines during his Asia trip — which is expected to focus on trade and North Korea.
The president will likely discuss his preference for bilateral trade agreements. This week, he remarked, “There are greater prospects through bilateral engagement” than multilateral deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Trump’s more inflammatory position on North Korea has been at odds with those of his team — national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Defense Secretary James Mattis and chief of staff John Kelly — who seek a more diplomatic solution to the North Korean threat.
When asked how Trump would approach the North Korean situation, McMaster said Thursday, “I don’t think the president really modulates his language. Have you noticed him do that?”
The president, McMaster added, “will use whatever language he wants to use, obviously.”
