U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped up his attacks on law enforcement agencies, warning that he may have to "get involved" in decisions amid "disgraceful" investigations being carried out by the Justice Department and FBI.
Speaking at a rally in Indiana on August 30, Trump said people are angry over issues such as the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into whether there was collusion between Russia and his 2016 election campaign.
"Our Justice Department and our FBI -- at the top of each, because inside they have incredible people -- but our Justice Department and our FBI have to start doing their job and doing it right and doing it now," Trump told his supporters at the rally.
"I wanted to stay out, but at some point if it doesn't straighten out properly ... I will get involved and I'll get in there if I have to," he added.
Mueller has been tasked with determining whether Trump's campaign team coordinated with Russia to sway the election in his favor.
Trump has so far denied any collusion with Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied his government interfered in the election, despite the conclusions of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies and congressional committees that Moscow intervened with its own state-directed campaign of e-mail hacking and public opinion manipulation.
In an interview with Bloomberg News released before the rally, Trump said that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom he has repeatedly criticized for recusing himself from oversight of the Russia probe, was safe in his job at least until the November congressional elections.
Asked by Bloomberg whether he would comply if Mueller issued a subpoena for him to appear for questioning, Trump responded that he would see what happens.
"I view it differently," Trump was quoted as saying in the interview.
"I view it as an illegal investigation" because "great scholars" have said that "there should never have been a special counsel."