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In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

The President also suggested that the investigation that will now be led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller was also motivated by an attempt to tarnish his election victory last year. 
  
 "It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election that they should have easily won because of the Electoral College being slanted so much in their way. That's all this is. I think it shows division, and it shows that we're not together as a country. And I think it's a very, very negative thing. And hopefully, this can go quickly, because we have to show unity if we're going to do great things with respect to the rest of the world." 
  
 Trump's push back contrasted sharply with the near universal welcome in Washington for Mueller, the former FBI director picked for the special counsel post Wednesday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. 
  
 Sen. Lindsey Graham, leaving the senators' briefing with Rosenstein, said Thursday he believes the Russia investigation is "now considered a criminal investigation." 
  
 "Congress' ability to conduct investigations of all things Russia has been severely limited, probably in an appropriate fashion," the South Carolina Republican said, as a result of Mueller's appointment. He added he wasn't able to ask specifically if it was now a criminal probe "but the takeaway I have is, everything he said was that you need to treat this investigation as if it may a criminal investigation." 
  
 With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 
  
 This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017 
  
 In a series of early morning tweets, Trump complained that he was being singled out in a way Democrats had not been. 
  
 "With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special (counsel) appointed," Trump tweeted. "This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history." 
  
 The President's tweets appear to signal a policy of resistance to Mueller's investigation, that will now likely cast a shadow over the beleaguered White House for months if not years to come. His attacks may also represent an attempt to rally his fiercely loyal political base which embraced him precisely because he was an outsider willing to challenged the established centers of power in Washington. 
  
 The naming of Mueller represents a threat to the White House because he will be armed with sweeping powers, including the right to subpoena documents or interview the President as he builds a case centered on the question of whether anyone in Trump's circle colluded with the Russians to influence the course of the election or committed any crimes. 
  
 The President's adoption of the role of a victim has been a potent political weapon before and he has frequently used it to position himself against the Washington establishment, including the media which he uses as a foil in the absence of an easily identifiable political enemy, like Hillary Clinton. 
  
 JUST WATCHED Trump calls Russia probe 'greatest witch hunt' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump calls Russia probe 'greatest witch hunt' 02:11 
  
 Departure from White House stance 
  
 Trump also has a habit of seeing political events through a prism of his own image and how they affect his reputation. In this case, painting himself as the unfair target of an investigation that was widely applauded across the political spectrum may instead serve to highlight his isolation. It may also be seen as an attempt to discredit the inquiry before it starts or to prejudge its results. 
  
 The President's comment may also conflict with a sound legal strategy, given that he could eventually be called upon to testify to Mueller's probe. 
  
 The tweets fly in the face of the statement issued on Wednesday night which had appeared as an attempt by Trump's staff to tamp down the raging political storm over Russia which has resulted in Trump's worst week in office so far. 
  
 Trump said in a restrained statement Wednesday that Mueller's "thorough investigation will confirm what we already know -- there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," adding that he looked forward to a speedy resolution to the probe. 
  
 Once again, Trump's tweets on Thursday saw him stake out a radical departure from the official White House line on an important issue, a habit that has repeatedly undermined his press operation in recent days, and made it even more difficult for his administration to move on from a string of self-imposed crises. 
  
 The same pattern was in evidence when he fired FBI Director James Comey last week then used a television interview to suggest he acted out of frustration with the FBI's Russia probe -- even though his team spent several days saying the ousting of the bureau's director had nothing to do with that issue. 
  
 Comey's dismissal and Trump's remarks appear to have helped sway Rosenstein's mind as he contemplated appointing a special counsel. 
  
 The announcement of a special counsel on Wednesday came with Trump already fuming about his treatment in Washington and about what he sees as the rank unfairness of claims that Russian hacking operations helped elect him last November. 
  
 "No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly," Trump said in a commencement address at the United States Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday. ||||| Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein knew FBI Director James Comey was going to be fired before he wrote a memo recommending Comey’s dismissal, a pair of Democratic senators said Thursday. 
  
 “He did acknowledge that he learned that Comey would be removed prior to him writing his memo,” Sen. Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskillLegislature finds credible allegations of forced sex by Missouri governor The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2018 Tariff fight could hit GOP in key Senate states MORE (D-Mo.) told reporters after leaving a closed-door briefing with Rosenstein. 
  
 Sen. Claire McCaskill says deputy AG Rod Rosenstein knew Comey was going to be removed prior to writing his memo https://t.co/5Zj9QwwPd5 — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 18, 2017 
  
 Sen. Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinCongress has a 'second chance' for bipartisan criminal justice reform Live coverage: Facebook's Zuckerberg faces grilling in Congress Lawmakers congratulate Duckworth on birth of daughter MORE (D-Ill.) said Rosenstein knew of Comey’s dismissal one day before Trump announced Comey’s termination. 
  
 “He knew it the day before,” Durbin, the Senate minority whip, told reporters, adding that Rosenstein didn't indicate he was pressured to write the recommendation. 
  
 Rosenstein on Wednesday evening appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as the special counsel for the investigation into Russian election interference and potential links between President Trump’s team and the Kremlin. 
  
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 The New York Times reported this week that Trump had asked Comey to let "go" of his investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn during a meeting in February. 
  
 Trump fired Comey last week, initially citing recommendations from Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsSenators call for DOJ to stop blocking medical marijuana research Hatch: Those advising Trump to fire Mueller going against 'nation's best interest' Gingrich compares FBI raid of Trump lawyer to Nazi secret police MORE. In an interview later, Trump said that "this Russia thing" played into his decision to fire Comey. 
  
 Comey reportedly kept a paper trail to document what he saw as the president’s improper attempts to influence his investigation. 
  
 McCaskill told reporters that Rosenstein is “anxious” to give Mueller the space to determine “where this investigation should go and what it should include.” 
  
 "As a former prosecutor, I respect that decision,” she added. 
  
 Updated: 4:01 p.m. ||||| WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters. 
  
 The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election and contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia. 
  
 Six of the previously undisclosed contacts described to Reuters were phone calls between Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, and Trump advisers, including Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, three current and former officials said. 
  
 Conversations between Flynn and Kislyak accelerated after the Nov. 8 vote as the two discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the U.S. national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations, four current U.S. officials said. 
  
 In January, the Trump White House initially denied any contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign. The White House and advisers to the campaign have since confirmed four meetings between Kislyak and Trump advisers during that time. 
  
 The people who described the contacts to Reuters said they had seen no evidence of wrongdoing or collusion between the campaign and Russia in the communications reviewed so far. But the disclosure could increase the pressure on Trump and his aides to provide the FBI and Congress with a full account of interactions with Russian officials and others with links to the Kremlin during and immediately after the 2016 election. 
  
 The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Flynn’s lawyer declined to comment. In Moscow, a Russian foreign ministry official declined to comment on the contacts and referred Reuters to the Trump administration. 
  
 Separately, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington said: “We do not comment on our daily contacts with the local interlocutors.” 
  
 The 18 calls and electronic messages took place between April and November 2016 as hackers engaged in what U.S. intelligence concluded in January was part of a Kremlin campaign to discredit the vote and influence the outcome of the election in favor of Trump over his Democratic challenger, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. 
  
 Those discussions focused on mending U.S.-Russian economic relations strained by sanctions imposed on Moscow, cooperating in fighting Islamic State in Syria and containing a more assertive China, the sources said. 
  
 Members of the Senate and House intelligence committees have gone to the CIA and the National Security Agency to review transcripts and other documents related to contacts between Trump campaign advisers and associates and Russian officials and others with links to Putin, people with knowledge of those investigations told Reuters. 
  
 The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it had appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential campaign and possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Mueller will now take charge of the FBI investigation that began last July. Trump and his aides have repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia. 
  
 President Donald Trump (L-R), joined by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, senior advisor Steve Bannon, Communications Director Sean Spicer and then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst 
  
 ‘IT’S RARE’ 
  
 In addition to the six phone calls involving Kislyak, the communications described to Reuters involved another 12 calls, emails or text messages between Russian officials or people considered to be close to Putin and Trump campaign advisers. 
  
 One of those contacts was by Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch and politician, according to one person with detailed knowledge of the exchange and two others familiar with the issue. 
  
 It was not clear with whom Medvedchuk was in contact within the Trump campaign but the themes included U.S.-Russia cooperation, the sources said. Putin is godfather to Medvedchuk’s daughter. 
  
 Medvedchuk denied having any contact with anyone in the Trump campaign. 
  
 “I am not acquainted with any of Donald Trump’s close associates, therefore no such conversation could have taken place,” he said in an email to Reuters. 
  
 In the conversations during the campaign, Russian officials emphasized a pragmatic, business-style approach and stressed to Trump associates that they could make deals by focusing on common economic and other interests and leaving contentious issues aside, the sources said. 
  
 Veterans of previous election campaigns said some contact with foreign officials during a campaign was not unusual, but the number of interactions between Trump aides and Russian officials and others with links to Putin was exceptional. 
  
 “It’s rare to have that many phone calls to foreign officials, especially to a country we consider an adversary or a hostile power,” Richard Armitage, a Republican and former deputy secretary of state, told Reuters. 
  
 FLYNN FIRED 
  
 Beyond Medvedchuk and Kislyak, the identities of the other Putin-linked participants in the contacts remain classified and the names of Trump advisers other than Flynn have been “masked” in intelligence reports on the contacts because of legal protections on their privacy as American citizens. However, officials can request that they be revealed for intelligence purposes. 
  
 U.S. and allied intelligence and law enforcement agencies routinely monitor communications and movements of Russian officials. 
  
 Slideshow (5 Images) 
  
 After Vice President Mike Pence and others had denied in January that Trump campaign representatives had any contact with Russian officials, the White House later confirmed that Kislyak had met twice with then-Senator Jeff Sessions, who later became attorney general. 
  
 Kislyak also attended an event in April where Trump said he would seek better relations with Russia. Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, also attended that event in Washington. In addition, Kislyak met with two other Trump campaign advisers in July on the sidelines of the Republican convention. 
  
 Trump fired Flynn in February after it became clear that he had falsely characterized the nature of phone conversations with Kislyak in late December - after the Nov. 8 election and just after the Obama administration announced new sanctions on Russia. Flynn offered to testify to Congress in return for immunity from prosecution but his offer was turned down by the House intelligence committee. |||||
Output:
President Trump called the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his campaign's ties to Russia a "witch hunt" that "hurts our country" Thursday in his first public, non-Twitter comments on the situation. "I believe it hurts our country terribly, because it shows we're a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country," CNN quotes Trump as saying during a luncheon with TV news anchors. He placed blame on Democrats wanting to discredit his election victory. During a press conference later, Trump denied urging former FBI director James Comey to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn. He added that "everybody" says it's "ridiculous" to think he's done anything criminal, denying any collusion between himself and Russia. Elsewhere, senators held a closed-door briefing with Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, after which Sen. Lindsey Graham said he believes the investigation into Russian collusion is "now considered a criminal investigation." The Hill reports two Democratic senators say Rosenstein said he knew Comey was going to be fired before writing a memo recommending the firing. And in an exclusive report, Reuters states FBI and congressional investigators are looking at 18 phone calls and emails between Russian officials and Flynn and others in the Trump campaign. These communications were previously undisclosed.