Trump declares victory after Mueller testimony

(24 Jul 2019) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus120921 Believing a two-year shadow over the White House at last has been lifted, President Donald Trump seized on Robert Mueller's testimony before Congress on Wednesday as a clear-cut victory, mocking the former special counsel's findings and performance. Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn before traveling to West Virginia, Trump blasted "the phony cloud" created by the investigation and declared "there was no defense to this ridiculous hoax, this witch hunt." "This has been a very bad thing for our country," Trump told reporters upon leaving the White House shortly after Mueller concluded his testimony. He declared that it was an "embarrassment and waste of time." Trump tweeted and retweeted more than two dozen times during Mueller's testimony about his investigation into the president and the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. As it ended, Trump tweeted: "TRUTH IS A FORCE OF NATURE!" And, like some of his most visible surrogates including his eldest son, Trump fixated on Mueller's performance, noting his lack of familiarity with some aspects of the investigation and accusing him of playing favorites. "The performance was obviously not very good. He had a lot of problems," Trump said. "This was a devastating day for Democrats." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...