President Donald Trump apparently admitted Friday morning that he's under investigation, but he's been obsessed for months with proving he's not.
Administration officials and the president's advisers are worried Trump's tweets and public statements about the Russia probe will trigger additional damaging leaks, but they said he cannot stop talking about the investigation, reported Politico.
The website reported that Trump will sometimes interrupt conversations with associates to say, "I'm not under investigation."
Trump tweeted out Friday morning that his alleged campaign collusion with Russia had been investigated for months but no conclusive evidence had been found.
"After 7 months of investigations & committee hearings about my 'collusion with the Russians,'" Trump tweeted. "Nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad!"
The president watches hours of TV news coverage every day -- especially morning shows, which he sometimes records and watches in the evening -- and complains about the reports nonstop.
Trump disputes the investigation as a "witch hunt" on Twitter, as he did both Thursday and Friday, and he does the same thing in private conversations, associates told Politico.
"It’s basically all he talks about on the phone," said one adviser.
His aides try to change the subject when the president brings up Russia, and aides have tried to reassure him the probe will clear him of wrongdoing -- but he remains obsessed by what he believes is unfair treatment.
Trump aides have urged him to stop meddling in the investigative process, but law enforcement and intelligence officials have recounted how the president has asked them to push back against the probe or to publicly exonerate him.
The president is reportedly under investigation for obstruction after firing FBI director James Comey, and sources told Politico he's privately fuming about special prosecutor Robert Mueller.
Trump lashed out Friday morning at deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who told lawmakers this week that he would not follow an order by the president to fire Mueller without "good cause."
"He is totally in a box now," one friend told Politico. "And it might make him want to fire Mueller more."
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