White House chief of staff John Kelly says in a new interview that President Trump is “somewhat embarrassed” by the investigation into Russia’s attempts to meddle in the 2016 election.
Kelly told NPR that the subject tends to come up in Trump’s conversations with foreign leaders, saying while the long-running investigation “may not be a cloud” hanging over the presidency, “the president is, you know, somewhat embarrassed, frankly.”
“When world leaders come in, it’s kind of like, you know, Bibi Netanyahu is here and he — who’s under investigation himself and it’s like, you know, you walk in and you know the first couple of minutes of every conversation might revolve around that kind of thing,” said Kelly, referring to the Israeli prime minister under investigation for bribery.
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During the interview airing on Thursday’s “Morning Edition,” Kelly also cast doubt on what special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s election meddling could turn up.
“Something that has gone on this long without any real meat on the bone, it suggests to me that there is nothing there, relative to our president,” Kelly said when asked if he agreed with the president’s claim that the probe is a “witch hunt.”
White House attorneys have been negotiating with Mueller’s team of investigators about the terms of a possible sit-down meeting between Trump and the special counsel.
So far the investigation has led to the indictment of multiple former Trump campaign associates, some of whom face charges of conspiracy against the U.S. and lying to the FBI about their contacts with Russia.