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President Donald Trump, cleared by special counsel Robert Mueller of conspiring with Russia in the 2016 US election, has vented his anger at the inquiry and vowed to investigate unnamed political enemies who did "evil" and "treasonous things".
Key points:
- Donald Trump calls claims of collusion a "false narrative" and says "we can never let this happen to another president again"
- A letter from the Trump campaign's media director to TV producers calls for anti-Trump guests to be called out
- Sarah Sanders says the "Democrats and liberal media" owe Mr Trump and apology
The Republican President and his allies in Congress went on the offensive a day after the release of a summary of Mr Mueller's report gave him a political victory ahead of his 2020 re-election bid, not exonerating him but making no allegations of criminal wrongdoing at the end of a nearly two-year-long inquiry.
US Attorney-General William Barr released a four-page summary of the findings of the investigation that detailed Russian interference in the 2016 election.
"There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country," Mr Trump told reporters at the White House, without mentioning anyone by name or citing specific actions.
Mr Trump pledged new investigations but did not specify who would conduct them or who should be targeted.
In the past, Mr Trump has called for investigations of Hillary Clinton, the Democrat he defeated in 2016.
"Those people will certainly be looked at. I've been looking at them for a long time," Mr Trump said in the Oval Office sitting alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"And I'm saying: Why haven't they been looked at? They lied to Congress. Many of them. You know who they are.
"I love this country as much I can love anything, my family, my country, my God. But what they did, it was a false narrative. It was terrible thing. We can never let this happen to another president again."
The media has also found itself in Mr Trump's sights in the wake of the Mueller report's release, with the Trump campaign's director of communications, Tim Murtaugh, sending a memo to a range of US television producers about their coverage of the investigation.
"The issuance of these definitive findings comes after two years of Democrat leaders and others lying to the American people by vigorously and repeatedly claiming there was evidence of collusion," the memo read.
"They made many of these false claims, without evidence, on your airways."
The memo then listed a number of Democratic senators and congressmen alongside quotes of theirs alleging collusion by the Trump campaign.
Mr Murtaugh instructed media outlets to "employ basic journalistic standards when booking such guests".
"At a minimum, if these guests do reappear, you should replay the prior statements and challenge them to provide the evidence which prompted them to make wild claims in the first place.," the memo read.
"At this point, there must be introspection from the media who facilitated the reckless statements and a serious evaluation of how such guests are handled in the future."
Trump says Mueller acted honourably in investigation
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders called for congressional hearings to investigate prominent Trump critics including former US director of national intelligence James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan, former FBI director James Comey and other FBI figures.
In an appearance on NBC's Today program, Ms Sanders said: "The media and Democrats have called the President an agent of a foreign government. That is an action equal to treason, which is punishable by death in this country."
Asked if Mr Trump owed Mr Mueller an apology, Sanders added: "I think Democrats and the liberal media owe the President and they owe the American people an apology."
Mr Trump had repeatedly accused Mr Mueller, a former FBI director, of running a "witch hunt" with a team of "thugs" and having conflicts of interest. But asked on Monday if Mr Mueller had acted honourably, Mr Trump said: "Yes."
Trump also said he had not thought about pardoning anyone convicted or who pleaded guilty in the Mueller probe.
They include several of his former aides, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former personal lawyer Michael Cohen. The special counsel also detailed extensive contacts between Trump associates and Russia.
Fight over Mueller report's release
Meanwhile, a fight continues to brew between Democrats and Republicans over the public release of the report.
As the Senate Judiciary Committee's Republican chairman called for an investigation into the origins of the probe of any Trump campaign links with Russians, the Senate leader blocked a second attempt by Democrats to pass a measure aimed at pushing the Justice Department into full disclosure of the report.
Six committee chairs in the Democratic-led House of Representatives called on Mr Barr, in a letter seen by Reuters, to release the full Mueller report to Congress by April 2. Earlier this month, the House voted 420-0 in favour of making the report public, with no Republican opposition.
No one outside the Justice Department has yet seen the report, including the White House. The Justice Department has not said whether it will release Mr Mueller's full report, but Mr Barr has said he will be as transparent as possible.
A person familiar with the matter said there were no plans at this time to show the Mueller report to the White House.
Mr Trump said on Tuesday that "it wouldn't bother me at all" if the report were released but that it was up to Mr Barr.
ABC/Reuters
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, donald-trump, united-states