![\"Donald_Trump39\"](\"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Donald_Trump39-300x169.jpg\")
International desk: President Donald Trump has said the decision to appoint a special counsel to oversee the inquiry into Russian influence on his election is hurting America “terribly”.<\/p>\nInternational desk: President Donald Trump has said the decision to appoint a special counsel to oversee the inquiry into Russian influence on his election is hurting America “terribly”.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a news conference in Washington, he denied any collusion with Russia during his election campaign last year.<\/p>\n
“The entire thing has been a witch hunt and there is no collusion,” he said.<\/p>\n
Former FBI chief Robert Mueller has been selected to lead the inquiry.<\/p>\n
Mr Mueller's appointment was welcomed by politicians from both sides.<\/p>\n
Calls for a special investigation had mounted after Mr Trump fired FBI Director James Comey last week.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Mr Trump denied trying to influence the investigation by sacking Mr Comey.
\n“Director Comey was very unpopular with most people,” he suggested.<\/p>\n
“I actually thought when I made that decision… that it would be a bipartisan decision because you look at all of the people on the Democratic side, not only the Republican side, that were saying such terrible things about Director Comey.”<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Mr Trump had said no politician in history “has been treated worse or more unfairly” than himself.<\/p>\n
The announcement of a special counsel apparently took the White House by surprise, with Mr Trump only being informed of it after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had signed the order.<\/p>\n
The FBI and Congress are looking into potential links between Mr Trump's campaign team and Russia. Mr Mueller will take over the FBI investigation.<\/p>\n
US intelligence agencies believe Moscow tried to tip November's presidential election in favour of Mr Trump.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that former Trump aide Michael Flynn told his transition team at the beginning of January – earlier than was previously thought – that he was under federal investigation for working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the election campaign.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump appointed Mr Flynn as his national security adviser weeks later despite the warning, but he was sacked after just 24 days.<\/p>\n
In his statement announcing Mr Mueller's appointment, Mr Rosenstein said: “The public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command.”<\/p>\n
Mr Mueller, who will have wide-ranging powers, said simply: “I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International desk: President Donald Trump has said the decision to appoint a special counsel to oversee the inquiry into Russian influence on his election is hurting America “terribly”. Speaking at a news conference in Washington, he denied any collusion with Russia during his election campaign last year. “The entire thing has been a witch hunt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n