Top White House aide grilled Russian-American lobbyist, Sessions to be questioned
Washington, Nov. 10: White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was questioned as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, sources familiar with the investigation said.
Mr Miller’s role in the firing of FBI director James Comey was among the topics discussed during the interview as part of the probe into possible obstruction of justice, one of the sources said.
The questioning brought the special counsel investigation into President Donald Trump’s inner circle in the White House.
Mr Miller is the highestlevel aide still working at the White House known to have talked to investigators.
Special counsel investigators showed interest in talking to attendees of a March 2016 meeting where foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos had said that he could arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin through his connections.
Mr Miller was also at the meeting, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
Mr Papadopoulos was recently charged with lying to the FBI about Russian contacts he had during the campaign.
Earlier this year, Mr Miller assisted Mr Trump in writing a memo that explained why Mr Trump planned to fire Mr Comey.
Eventually that memo was scrapped because of opposition by White House counsel Don McGahn, who said its contents were problematic, according to The New York Times.
The Comey dismissal letter — drafted during a May weekend at Mr Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey — has also drawn interest from the Mueller team.
Sources tell CNN that White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who was also in New Jersey that weekend, did not oppose the decision to fire Mr Comey. CNN reported the special counsel’s team is asking questions in interviews with witnesses about Mr Kushner’s role in Comey’s firing. The Times reported in September that the justice department had turned over a copy of the letter, which was never sent, to Mr Mueller. Washington: The House intelligence committee is preparing to interview a Russian-American lobbyist who attended a meeting last year with President Donald Trump’s son as part of its probe into Russian election interference.
The panel is also expected to interview attorney general Jeff Sessions in coming weeks, according to people familiar with the interviews.
The House interview with Rinat Akhmetshin is scheduled for next week, and Mr Sessions’ interview is planned for November 30, according to one of the sources.
Dates for witnesses have often been pushed later.
Congressional investigators are probing the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr, as is special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mr Akhmetshin already has been interviewed by the Senate intelligence panel, according to a person familiar with that interview.
All of those disclosing the interviews spoke on condition of anonymity because the meetings are not publicly announced.
The interviews come as the House panel has ramped up its schedule in its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election — sometimes holding two-hour interviews in one day.
Some Republicans have expressed interest in wrapping up the probe by the end of the year, though it likely will spill into 2018.
Lawmakers have been interested in Mr Sessions’ knowledge about interactions between Trump campaign aides and Russians.
Mr Sessions did not attend the Trump tower meeting.