O’Reilly says Trump called him to complain about Mueller

Former Fox News Host Bill O’Reilly said President Trump called him Wednesday night to allege special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was a “personal thing.”

In a Thursday morning radio appearance on the show “Bernie and Sid in the Morning,” O’Reilly said Trump called him at 11 p.m. the night before to discuss Mueller’s findings, alleging that Mueller had to “signal to the swamp” that he “still believes that Donald Trump did something illegal.”

{mosads}“Trump says Mueller doesn’t like him because he turned him down to be the head of the FBI after he fired Comey,” O’Reilly said. “The president says that Mueller lobbied for the job and Trump turned him down.”

Trump called O’Reilly the same day that Mueller made a rare appearance at the Justice Department to discuss his investigation. Mueller announced he was closing his office and that his team could not have brought charges against Trump given Justice Department guidance prohibiting charges from being brought against a sitting president.

O’Reilly, who published a column on his website titled “Why Mueller Treated Trump so Unfairly,” added that Trump also believes Mueller’s investigation was spurred by a feud over a golf club membership deposit. Mueller was a member of the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., The New York Times reported. 

“He wouldn’t give him his deposit back for a country club membership that Trump owned and Mueller was moving, and Mueller wanted $15,000 back and Trump said no,” O’Reilly said.

Trump and his advisers have previously raised these complaints. In 2018, The New York Times reported that Trump raised them when he told former White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller as the special counsel, an allegation McGahn raised in his testimony to Mueller’s team.