Collins: Mueller report includes 'an unflattering portrayal' of Trump

Sen. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsWe need a (common) 'sense of the Senate' resolution on transition planning The Hill's Morning Report - Biden wins Arizona, confers with Dem leaders; Trump tweets Deadlock leaves no clear path for lame-duck coronavirus deal  MORE (R-Maine) said Friday that special counsel Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's report gives an "unflattering portrayal" of President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump: New York won't receive COVID-19 vaccine immediately Biden considering Yellen as possible Treasury secretary: report Trump puts Giuliani in charge of election lawsuits: report MORE, including an effort to oust the former FBI director from his special counsel role.

“He was not only very upset by the special counsel’s investigations, but tried several times through intermediaries to end it, and it is an unflattering portrayal of the President," Collins told Maine Public Radio.

Her comments come after Attorney General William BarrBill BarrNext attorney general must embrace marijuana law reforms Federal judge moves E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against Trump forward 'Stolen election' rhetoric: more dangerous than you might think MORE released the 448-page report on Thursday, detailing Mueller's findings from the probe into the 2016 election and the Trump campaign as well as his conclusion that Congress may probe potential obstruction of justice.

As part of the obstruction section of his report, Mueller detailed 10 "episodes," including efforts by Trump to end the investigation, both when it was being overseen by former FBI Director James Comes and then by Mueller.

In one episode described by Mueller, Trump in 2017 ordered then-White House counsel Don McGahn to tell Deputy Attorney General Rod RosensteinRod RosensteinTrump turns his ire toward Cabinet members Ex-deputy attorney general says Justice Dept. 'will ignore' Trump's threats against political rivals The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump's erratic tweets upend stimulus talks; COVID-19 spreads in White House MORE to get rid of the special counsel. But McGahn refused, warning that he would rather resign.

In a subsequent episode described by Mueller, Trump in 2018 then tried to get McGahn to deny that he ever asked the White House counsel to help fire Mueller.

Trump, as described in the Mueller report, also tried several times to get then-Attorney General Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTuberville incorrectly says Gore was president-elect in 2000 Next attorney general must embrace marijuana law reforms Tuberville unseats Jones in Alabama Senate race MORE to reverse his decision to recuse himself from the investigation and take over the probe.

Collins, who is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Maine NPR on Friday that she believed Mueller's report was a "very thorough undertaking."

"The Russians were determined to try to influence public opinion and interfere in our elections, and that is a serious threat to our democratic institution,” Collins said.

Collins, who is up for reelection in 2020, isn't the only GOP senator raising early alarm bells over parts of the Mueller report.

Sen. Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyWe need a (common) 'sense of the Senate' resolution on transition planning The Hill's Morning Report - Biden wins Arizona, confers with Dem leaders; Trump tweets Biden has spoken with some GOP senators, chief of staff says MORE (R-Utah) said in a statement on Friday that he was "sickened" by some of the behavior described in the report, including actions by Trump.

"I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President," Romney said in a statement posted to Twitter.