WH Legislative Director March Short describes "growing frustration" with Mueller probe
Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affiars, says there's "growing frustration" within the Trump administration over special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, given what he said were the White House's efforts to cooperate in the probe.
"There's a growing frustration that after more than a year and millions and millions of dollars spent on this, there remains no evidence of collusion with Russia," said Short on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Short says the president's public criticisms of the investigation -- as seen on Twitter -- are "well-warranted" and "merited."
"There has been no evidence whatsoever of collusion. There has been millions (sic) and millions of dollars spent -- at taxpayer expense -- trying to uncover this," said Short.
- Transcript: White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short on "Face the Nation," March 18, 2018
Mr. Trump has begun attacking Mueller himself, most recently claiming there was Democratic bias in the special's counsel's team in a series of Sunday morning tweets. Short said the White House was cooperating with the probe in "every single way."
"Everyone in the White House has cooperated on this, and what I said is that we have cooperated in every single way, every single paper they've asked for, every single interview. And I think the reality, Margaret, is that yes, there's a growing frustration, that after more than a year and millions and millions of dollars spent on this, there remains no evidence of collusion with Russia."
He added, "It's ongoing over a year. And it's been ongoing also in both the House and the Senate, doing their own independent investigations where the House has concluded there was no collusion. I think at some point the American people are owed an answer to say, 'OK, if there was no collusion, how much longer will this drag on?'"
Short maintains that morale at the White House is high despite this week's upheaval that saw the ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe and persistent rumors of other West Wing shakeups.
"Anytime in this environment there's always going to be a lot of turmoil, Margaret. That's something you sign up for. You recognize you serve at the pleasure of the president. We sign up knowing that we're trying to do the will of the American people," Short said.
Short argued, however, that the American people don't want to hear about the inner workings of the White House staff, but rather are concerned about issues like unemployment and the economy.