Special counsel Robert Mueller had harsh words about Trump’s exuberant praise of WikiLeaks, the organization that illegally released emails from the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign. During a Wednesday hearing with the House Intelligence Committee, Mueller called Trump’s actions “problematic.”

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) noted during the hearing that Mike Pompeo, when he was director of the CIA, had assessed WikiLeaks as “a hostile intelligence service.” Mueller agreed with that view.

Quigley then read numerous statements by Trump, who frequently praised the outlet during the 2016 campaign.

“I love WikiLeaks,” he said. “This WikiLeaks stuff is unbelievable.” “Boy, I love reading those WikiLeaks.”

Quigley asked if those quotes disturbed Mueller and how he reacted to them.

“Problematic is an understatement,” Mueller replied, “in terms of what it displays and giving some hope or some boost to what is and should be illegal activity.”

Trump praised Wikileaks more than 140 times in the final month of the campaign.

After its founder Julian Assange was indicted in April of this year on federal charges, Trump tried to walk back his adoring praise, claiming, “I know nothing about WikiLeaks.”

During both the earlier Judiciary Committee hearing and the Intelligence hearing, Mueller has confirmed that the Trump campaign welcomed help from hostile entities like WikiLeaks, and even created campaign plans to maximize the impact of the illegal leaks.

Published with permission of The American Independent.