Trump unhappy with special counsel's comments on obstruction

President Donald Trump angrily assailed special counsel Robert Mueller's motives on Thursday, a day after Mueller bluntly rebuffed Trump's repeated claims that the Russia investigation had cleared him of obstructing justice.

The president also offered mixed messages on Russia's efforts to help him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign.

Early in the day, Trump tweeted he had "nothing to do with Russia helping me get elected." That was the first time he seemed to acknowledge that Russia tried to help his campaign.

Then on the White House South Lawn, Trump told reporters: "Russia did not help me get elected. You know who got me elected? You know who got me elected? I got me elected. Russia didn't help me at all."
When asked last year in Helsinki whether he wanted Trump to become president, Putin replied: "Yes, I did." On Wednesday, Mueller, in his first public remarks on the Russia investigation, pointedly rejected Trump's claims repeated almost daily that the special counsel's investigation cleared him of criminal activity and was a "witch hunt."