THISDAY

Trump Calls Leak of Mueller’s Questions ‘Disgracefu­l’

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US President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday over the apparent leak of a list of questions special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking to ask him in the federal investigat­ion into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia and the president’s possible obstructio­n of the probe, according to Yahoo News.

“So disgracefu­l that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media,” Trump tweeted. “No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see … you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigat­ion begun with illegally leaked classified informatio­n. Nice!”

The president added: “It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!”

According to federal law, someone can obstruct an investigat­ion of a potential crime even if that inquiry ultimately finds no crime was committed. In other words, someone only has to interfere with a federal investigat­ion to be guilty of obstructin­g justice.

On Monday night, the New York Times published a report including more than 40 questions that Mueller would like to ask Trump. The Times said it obtained the questions, which were given to the president’s lawyers, from a person outside of Trump’s legal team.

Mueller, who has reportedly been seeking an interview with Trump for months, appears to want to know about a broad array of issues, including Trump’s thinking surroundin­g the firings of national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey.

The questions also address Trump’s attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as well as the president’s knowledge of his campaign’s interactio­ns with figures tied to the Kremlin. In particular, the special counsel is interested in the June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower — arranged by Donald Trump Jr. — with a Russian lawyer who offered “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.

“When did you become aware of the Trump Tower meeting?” Mueller reportedly wants to ask Trump, according to the Times.

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