US President Donald Trump denounces Democratic probes of his allegedly suspicious links to Russia during a White House eventin the Roosevelt Room of the White House February 6, 2019. (Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) – Just a day after preaching an end to division in his State of the Union speech, President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at “harassment” by Democrats probing his links to Russia.

“There would be no reason to do that. No other politician has to go through that. It’s called presidential harassment. And it’s unfortunate. And it really does hurt our country,” Trump said at the White House.

He branded Adam Schiff, the chairman of the intelligence committee in the House of Representatives and leader of an expanding probe, “a political hack who’s trying to build a name for himself.”

It was back to business as usual for Trump, who faces multiple investigations into allegations of improper dealings with Russia and other suspicious financial activities.

The main investigation, run by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, is looking into explosive allegations that Russian agents colluded with Trump in his 2016 election campaign. Trump says he only had legitimate links with Russian partners and calls Mueller’s effort a “witch hunt.”

In his speech late Tuesday, Trump vowed to help Washington “reject the politics of revenge” and “embrace the boundless potential of cooperation.”

But his nationally televised State of the Union address, lasting 82 minutes, also warned Democrats controlling the lower house of Congress not to step up their own probes.

Claiming that his legal troubles put the strong US economy at risk, Trump lambasted “ridiculous partisan investigations.”

But on Wednesday, Schiff made clear that his committee was expanding its planned probe into suspected illegal links between foreign entities and Trump’s circle.

“The Committee must fulfill its responsibility to provide the American people with a comprehensive accounting of what happened, and what the United States must do to protect itself from future interference and malign influence operations,” Schiff said.

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