In spite of tweet, lawyer says Trump not under investigation
WASHINGTON » A member of the president’s outside legal team says Donald Trump is not under federal investigation, days after Trump appeared to confirm he was with a tweet about being the target of a “witch hunt.”
Appearing on a series of morning news programs, attorney Jay Sekulow repeatedly stressed Sunday that “the president has not been and is not under investigation.” He said a Friday tweet from Trump was specifically directed at a story in The Washington Post about the expanding probe into Russia’s election meddling.
As evidence, Sekulow said that Trump has not been notified of any investigation. He also cited the testimony from former FBI Director James Comey before the Senate intelligence committee, in which Comey said he had told Trump he was not under investigation in the months leading up to his May 9 firing.
Prosecutors sometimes, but not always, notify individuals through their attorneys that they are targets of an investigation and are at risk of being charged. But there is no hard-and-fast rule requiring a potential defendant to be advised of an investigation and his or her role in it.
Asked about the possibility that an investigation has since developed and the president does not know, Sekulow said: “I can’t read people’s minds, but I can tell you this, we have not been notified that there’s an investigation to the president of the United States. So that — nothing has changed in that regard since James Comey’s testimony.”
The Post reported last week that Robert Mueller
— the special counsel appointed to investigate Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election
— was looking into whether Trump obstructed justice. Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and has expansive powers to probe any matters that develop from his initial investigation.
The president wrote on Twitter Friday: “I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt.”
“Witch hunt” has become Trump’s preferred phrase to dismiss the probe into Russian election interference. The message apparently referred to Rosenstein, whose role leading the federal investigation has become increasingly complicated. The White House used a memo he wrote to justify Trump’s decision to fire Comey, but Trump’s firing of the FBI director may now be part of the probe.
Meanwhile, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, may be getting new legal representation as the investigation heats up. Kushner has been represented on business matters and other issues by Jamie Gorelick.
In a statement, Gorelick says that after the appointment of the special counsel, she advised Kushner “to obtain the independent advice of a lawyer with appropriate experience as to whether he should continue with us.”