US special counsel ‘investigating Trump for obstructing justice’
● Lawyer claims FBI leak is illegal ● President says it is a ‘phony story’
The special counsel appointed to investigate Russian influence in the 2016 US Presidential campaign is now examining whether Donald Trump tried to obstruct justice, according to a report.
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, responded to the Washington Post’s report, saying: “The FBI leak of information regarding the President is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal.”
The report cites anonymous sources who were briefed on requests made by investigators. It was not known whether the FBI was the source of the information.
Accusations of obstruction arose last month when President Trump sacked FBI director James Comey.
Mr comeyt old a senate hearing last week that he believed he was sacked “because of the Russia investigation”, being carried out by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Mr Comey also said he had told Mr Trump he was not under investigation.
The Washington Post and The New York Times both said Mr Mueller was seeking interviews with three Trump administration officials who were not involved in his campaign – director of national intelligence Dan Coats, head of the National Security Agency Michael Rogers and Richard Ledgett, the NSA’S former deputy director.
On Wednesday Mr Mueller met the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee in an effort to ensure their investigations did not conflict.
The committee leaders said in a statement that they “look forward to future engagements” with Mr Mueller.
Committee chairman Richard Burr, and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the panel’s top Democrat, did not provide any other details, but an aide familiar with the meeting said it was held to discuss the investigations, including ways that the parallel inquiries did not interfere with one another.
Mr Trump wrote on Twitter that the report suggesting Mr Mueller may investigate him for possible obstruction of justice was a “phony story”.
He said on the microblogging site: “They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story. Nice.”
Mr Trump later told his Twitter followers that they are witnessing the “single great- est witch hunt in American history”.
He did not clarify what exactly he was referring to in the early morning tweet, although he has frequently described reports about possible ties between members of his campaign and Russia as a “witch hunt”.
He wrote: “You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history – led by some very bad and conflicted people! #MAGA” – the acronym referring to his campaign slogan, Make America Great Again.
The meeting came a day after politicians questioned Justice Department officials about the probe and Mr Mueller’s independence, and after a friend of Mr Trump said the White House was considering firing Mr Mueller.
Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mr Mueller last month, testified he had seen no evidence of good cause to sack him