Vice President Mike Pence said it was time for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to "wrap it up" regarding his Russia investigation during an interview airing Thursday.
President Donald Trump has continually called Mueller's sprawling investigation a "witch hunt" and denied any "collusion" with Russian entities regarding the 2016 campaign. NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell noted Mueller was a Republican and asked Pence whether he trusted him.
"Do you think he's a bad guy?" Mitchell asked.
"Our administration has been fully cooperating with the Special Counsel—" Pence started.
"Do you think his investigation is a hoax?" Mitchell asked.
"And we'll continue to," Pence continued. "What I think is that it's been about a year since this investigation began. Our administration has provided over a million documents. We fully cooperated in it, and in the interest of the country, I think it's time to wrap it up. And I would respectfully encourage the special counsel and his team to bring their work to completion."
Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, which set off a series of events leading to the appointment of Mueller as special counsel on the Russia probe by the Department of Justice.
Pence spoke at Joint Base Andrews with several media outlets ahead of the return of three Americans who had been detained by North Korea. Trump, Pence and their wives greeted the freed men along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the wee hours of Thursday morning.