Trump is using his bogus attacks on Mueller to raise campaign cash

In a shocking new low, the Trump campaign is using special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion to raise campaign funds.

“I will not hide from the truth — this is a WITCH HUNT,” is the first line in a recent Trump campaign email with the subject “re: Russia.” Trump often refers to Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt” in his Twitter rants, even as the investigation racks up indictments against both Russian agents and former Trump staffers.

This fundraising pitch further escalates Trump’s feud with Mueller. In the past week, Trump used Mueller’s name in a Tweet for the first time, claiming that the investigation should have never started.

He complained about the team of top-notch attorneys hired by Mueller, and lashed out against former FBI Director James Comey. Trump fired Comey in early 2017, later bragging to Russian diplomats that firing “nut job” Comey relieved “great pressure” on him.

Trump’s lead attorney on the Russia probe, John Dowd, recently resigned because he “ultimately concluded that Mr. Trump was increasingly ignoring his advice,” according to the New York Times.

Trump is bringing on an attorney who publicly theorized about an FBI conspiracy against Trump.

Remember, Republican Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, allowing his top deputy, Rod Rosenstein (nominated by Trump and overwhelming confirmed by a Republican-led Senate), to take charge of the investigation.

When Trump fired Comey, his own appointee, Rosenstein, appointed Mueller to head the investigation. Mueller is a former FBI director first tapped to lead the FBI by Republican George W. Bush.

Yet somehow, Trump’s fundraising email describes the investigation as a “witch hunt.”

The email goes on, making the unfounded claim that “the swamp” is seeking to use “our government as a weapon to overturn elections and silence millions of American voters.”

Trump often refers to Washington, D.C., as a “swamp.” But both the White House and Congress are controlled by Republicans who are unfailingly loyal to Trump. His reference to some entity seeking to “overturn elections” has no basis in reality, as there are no efforts underway by Republicans or Democrats to make any such attempts.

Trump’s chaotic behavior in the past few weeks points to a much more aggressive stance against Mueller. Raising campaign cash off of an investigation into his unethical, and possibly illegal, actions is just one more way Trump disgraces the office of the president.

If he sought to fire Mueller, even complicit Republicans might actually stand up against him.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, when asked about that possibly, said, “If he tried to do that, that would be the beginning of the end of his presidency.”

Despite Trump’s bluster, Mueller is a decorated Marine with a long history of honorable public service. Name-calling and childish behavior won’t stop him from uncovering the truth, no matter how much money Trump’s campaign raises from complaining about him.