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Trump's lashing out on Twitter and reportedly increasingly afraid the Mueller probe will indict his family

  • The White House is reportedly bracing itself for a slew of indictments as a result of the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

  • The Trump administration fears that some of the president's allies and family members will be indicted, Politico reported on Thursday.

  • Mueller is reportedly preparing to issue more indictments, which could come as soon as this week.

  • President Donald Trump's body language, Twitter outbursts, and policy moves are said to be hinting at brewing trouble.

  • "It led me to believe the walls are closing in and they have been notified by counsel of some actions about to happen," a senior Republican official told Politico.


The Trump administration is growing increasingly anxious and bracing for a slew of indictments as a result of the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, according to a new Politico report.

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The White House fears that Mueller will indict some of President Donald Trump's allies and family members, Politico reported on Thursday, citing unnamed officials working for or in contact with the White House.

Trump's latest Cabinet reshuffles and Twitter rants also appear to reflect a growing concern about the investigation.

"You can see it in Trump's body language all week long. There's something troubling him," a senior Republican official who communicates with the White House told Politico.

"It's not just a couple staff screw-ups with Melania," he added, referring to the removal of Mira Ricardel from her position as deputy national security adviser following an intervention by first lady Melania Trump.

"It led me to believe the walls are closing in and they have been notified by counsel of some actions about to happen," the official said. "Folks are preparing for the worst."

Mueller is reportedly preparing to issue more indictments, which could come as soon as Friday.

Robert Mueller
Robert Mueller

Meanwhile, after being uncharacteristically subdued leading up to the midterm elections earlier this month, Trump used Twitter on Thursday to lay into Mueller, accusing the special counsel's team of "screaming and shouting at people" and "horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want."

"The inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess," Trump tweeted. "They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts ... A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!"

Trump and his lawyers are preparing to send their answers to a set of written questions from Mueller about potential collusion with Russia.

Earlier this week, Jerome Corsi, a far-right conspiracy theorist and associate of the longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone, indicated he expects to be indicted soon. And Mueller's office asked a federal court in Washington, DC, for an extension on the sentencing of Rick Gates, the former Trump campaign deputy chairman, until January - a sign that Gates still has a significant amount of information for prosecutors.

Trump also indicated in an interview with The Daily Caller on Wednesday that he installed the acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, to hamper the Russia inquiry. The statement was reminiscent of his admission to NBC's Lester Holt last year that he ousted James Comey as FBI director to kill the investigation.

That Trump's tweetstorm and Daily Caller interview came after this series of developments on the Russia investigation could indicate that the president is growing increasingly worried about what Mueller has.


Read more:
In a 'self-defeating and self-incriminating' slipup, Trump just indicated he installed Matthew Whitaker to kill the Russia probe

"What is so unusual about Trump is that he publicly forecasts his motivation in a way that is self-defeating and self-incriminating," Elie Honig, a former prosecutor from the Southern District of New York who specialised in organised-crime cases, told INSIDER.

Jeffrey Cramer, a former federal prosecutor who spent 12 years at the DOJ, echoed that assessment.

"The president's knee-jerk pivot to talking about the Russia investigation when asked about Whitaker's qualification is what poker players call a 'tell,'" Cramer told INSIDER.

Read Politico's full report here.