Don freaks over leaks, lies about collusion probe
SPECIAL PROSECUTOR Robert Mueller threatened to subpoena the President to get the answers he wants in the Russia probe.
Trump’s lawyer John Dowd said that prosecutors raised the issue during a March meeting.
The President railed against leakers after The New York Times published a list of nearly 50 questions that the Mueller team wants ask Trump.
“It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!” the President tweeted.
The questions cover a range of topics, including Trump’s motivations for firing FBI Director James Comey a year ago and whether the President was aware of contacts his campaign had with Russians.
Mueller, tasked with investigating Russian election meddling and possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign, has indicated to Trump’s lawyers that he’s not considered a target.
However, investigators remain interested in whether the President’s actions constitute obstruction of justice and want to interview him about several episodes.
“So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian witch hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
The Times reported Trump’s lawyers compiled the questions into a list, and that document was “provided to The Times by a person outside Mr. Trump’s legal team.” In his tweet, Trump said there were “no questions on collusion.”
He said collusion with the Russians “never existed.”
But the questions indicate that Mueller is in fact looking into possible collusion — and plenty of other topics.
One question asks what Trump knew about campaign staff, including former chairman Paul Manafort, reaching out to Moscow.
Mueller has brought several charges against Manafort already, including money laundering and bank fraud. Another question asks what discussions Trump may have had regarding “any meeting with Mr. Putin,” a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Yet another asks what the President may have known about a possible attempt by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to set up a back channel with Russia before his inauguration. With Denis Slattery