WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was under investigation for firing the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The probe seeks to determine whether the former FBI chief James Comey was fired to stop him from holding an inquiry into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.

“I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director,” President Trump tweeted. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wrote a memo the White House used to justify the firing of the ex-FBI chief.

On Thursday, Vice President Pence hired outside legal counsel to help with both congressional committee inquiries and the special counsel investigation into possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia.

The vice president’s office said that Mr Pence has retained Richard Cullen, a Richmond-based lawyer and chairman of McGuire-Woods who previously served as a US attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. Mr Cullen will represent the vice president’s personal interests and will not be paid with taxpayer funds.

In another tweet, Mr Trump accused Mr Rosenstein of pursuing a witch hunt. “Despite the phony Witch Hunt going on in America, the economic & jobs numbers are great,” he tweeted.

Mr Rosenstein took over the investigation into the alleged Russian interference after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself in March.

The deputy attorney general later appointed a former FBI director Robert Mueller the special counsel to lead the inquiry.

Earlier this week US media reported that Mr Mueller was investigating the president for possible obstruction of justice.

The report suggested that Mr. Mueller plans to interview intelligence officials on whether Mr. Trump got rid of Mr Comey, in May to hamper an inquiry into his sacked national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

President Trump also tweeted on Friday morning: “After 7 months of investigations & committee hearings about my ‘collusion with the Russians,’ nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad!”

The US media reported earlier this week that the president also wants to fire Mr Muller but was finding it difficult to do so because he has the reputation of being an honest and impartial investigator.

A person who spoke with Mr Trump on Tuesday told the New York Times that the president was pleased by the intentional ambiguity of his position on firing Mr Mueller. The president “thinks the possibility of being fired will focus the veteran prosecutor on delivering what the president desires most: a blanket public exoneration,” the report claimed.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2017