Mueller drafted indictment against Trump, says new book

THE author Michael Wolff ’s second book on Donald Trump triggered a backlash yesterday after a claim about the man who investigated ties with Russia was denied by his spokesman.

In the new book, the sequel to his controversial Fire and Fury, Mr Wolff claimed that special counsel Robert Mueller drafted up a three-count indictment against the president on obstruction of justice charges.

According to a copy seen by The Guardian, Mr Wolff quotes extensively from this document in Siege: Trump Under Fire.

Mr Wolff reports that the special counsel’s office drew up the charges under Title 18 of the US criminal code. The alleged document, which was entitled “United States of America against Donald J Trump, Defendant”, reportedly sat on Mr Mueller’s desk for almost a year.

The first count charged Mr Trump with corruptly influencing or obstructing a pending proceeding before a US department or agency, according to the newspaper. The second charged him with tampering with a witness or informant and the third with retaliating against a witness or informant.

The claim is explosive because Mr Mueller outlined in his final report on the near-two-year investigation that he had decided not to bring charges against the president.

However, a spokesman for the special counsel said: “The documents described do not exist.”

The US Justice Department’s guidelines state that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime, however Mr Mueller recounted in detail 11 incidents of alleged obstruction of justice by the president in his 448-page report.

The new book is due to be published on June 4.