| Mueller, whom Rosenstein appointed in May 2017, took over the investigation after Trump abruptly fired former FBI Director James Comey, a move that raised questions about his potential obstruction of justice. According to the report, Trump was frustrated by the special counsel's appointment. "Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it runs your presidency," Trump said, cited by the report. "It takes years and years and I won't be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me." Trump also had tried to seize control the Mueller's investigation and force his removal after media reports indicated that the special counsel was looking into whether the president had obstructed justice, the report revealed. In June 2017, Trump reportedly directed then White House Counsel Don McGahn to call a Justice Department official and say that Mueller "had conflicts of interest and must be removed," which McGahn refused and threatened to resign. "The President's efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the president declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests," Mueller wrote in the report. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer, defended the president when speaking to Fox News on Thursday, saying that he "did not have a guilty motive." The special counsel also wrote that he had the authority to issue a grand jury subpoena in order to interview Trump but decided against doing so because it would delay the investigation. He said his team "had sufficient evidence to understand relevant events and to make certain assessments without the president's testimony." | 
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