WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time Friday that he is under investigation for firing former FBI director James Comey.
"I am being investigated for firing the FBI director by the man who told me to fire the FBI director!" Trump wrote on Twitter. "Witch hunt."
I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 16, 2017
It was not immediately clear who he was referring to by "the man who told me to fire the FBI director."
An unidentified source confirmed to Fox News that the president was referring to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in his tweet. Rosenstein last month appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in last year's presidential election.
#BREAKING @FoxNews is being told through sources that @realDonaldTrump was referring to Rosenstein in his tweet.
— Brian Schwartz (@schwartzbCNBC) June 16, 2017
Trump's Friday morning tweet is the first explicit statement by Trump confirming that Mueller is investigating allegations that the president's firing of Comey last month was an attempt to obstruct the Russia probe, The New York Times reported.
It was one of a string of messages posted to social media by Trump Friday morning. In another tweet, he decried "the phony witch hunt going on in America." He blasted the "fake news media," who he claimed "hates when I use what has turned out to be my very powerful social media."
Cox Media Group