his campaign colluded with any Russian effort to sway the 2016 U.S. election.
"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," Trump wrote
on Twitter, later repeating his accusation that the probe is a "witch
hunt."
The
Washington Post, citing unidentified officials, reported on Wednesday that
special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the Republican president for
possible obstruction of justice.
A source
familiar with the Mueller investigation confirmed the report, saying an
examination of possible obstruction of justice charges was
"unavoidable" given testimony by former FBI Director James Comey,
although the issue may not become the main focus of the probe.
Comey, who
was fired on May 9, told a Senate panel last week he believed Trump dismissed
him to undermine the FBI's Russia probe. He also told the Senate Intelligence
Committee in his June 8 testimony that he believed Trump had directed him to
drop a related agency investigation into the president's former national
security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Regardless
of the outcome, the specter of Mueller examining the possibility of obstruction
of justice appeared to be a new blow to Trump, whose first five months in
office have been clouded by the federal and congressional probes into the
Russia issue.
Although he
was strongly critical of some of Comey's testimony, the president said last
week that the former FBI chief had vindicated him when he said that while he
was at the agency, Trump was not the subject of the FBI's Russia probe.
The special
counsel is following two major lines of investigation, said one U.S. official
familiar with the rough outlines of Mueller's probe who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
The first is
into whether anyone on Trump's campaign or associated with it, with him or with
any of his businesses, may have had any illegal dealings with Russian officials
or others with ties to the Kremlin, said the official.
The second,
the official continued, is into whether if any potential offenses were
committed, Trump or others attempted to cover them up or obstruct the
investigation into them.
Examining
such possible charges will allow investigators to interview key administration
figures including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General
Rosenstein and possibly Trump himself, said the source familiar with the
Mueller investigation.
While a
sitting president is unlikely to face criminal prosecution, obstruction of
justice could form the basis for impeachment. Any such step would face a steep
hurdle as it would require approval by the U.S. House of Representatives, which
is controlled by Trump's fellow Republicans.
'IT'S NOT A
WITCH HUNT'
Moscow has
denied U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that it interfered in last year's
U.S. presidential election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump's favor.
The White
House has denied any collusion, and Trump has repeatedly complained about the
probe, saying Democrats cannot accept his election win.
Mueller was
named by Rosenstein on May 17 to lead the Russia investigation as a special
counsel, a position created to conduct investigations when a normal Justice
Department probe would present a conflict of interest.
According to
the Washington Post, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, Mike
Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, and Richard Ledgett, the
former deputy director at the NSA, agreed to be interviewed by Mueller's
investigators as early as this week. It cited five people briefed on the
requests by Mueller's team who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The
emergence of the obstruction of justice inquiry may make it harder for Trump to
have Mueller removed. On Monday, a Trump friend said the president was
considering dismissing Mueller although the White House said later he had no
plans to do so.
Republican
Senator John Thune defended Mueller's integrity and said he needs to be able to
continue to do his job and get to the bottom of the issues.
"It's
not a witch hunt," Thune told MSNBC in an interview on Thursday. "It
is in everybody's best interests if we let him do his job."
PUTIN
REITERATES DENIAL
On Thursday,
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Comey had presented no evidence to prove
that Moscow meddled in the U.S. election, adding that Washington had tried to
influence Russian elections "year after year," he said.
Putin also
echoed Trump's criticism of Comey, saying it was "very strange" for a
former FBI chief to leak details of his conversations with the U.S. president
to the media through a friend.
The
obstruction of justice investigation into Trump began days after Comey was
fired, according to people familiar with the matter, the Washington Post said.
The
administration initially gave differing reasons for his dismissal, including
that he had lost the confidence of the FBI. Trump later contradicted his own
staff, saying on May 11 he had the Russia issue in mind when he fired Comey.
Mark
Corallo, a spokesman for Trump's legal team, denounced the Post report, saying
on Wednesday: "The FBI leak of information regarding the president is
outrageous, inexcusable and illegal." It was not clear why he attributed
the report to an FBI leak. The Post report did not name the FBI as its source.
A spokesman
for Mueller's team declined to comment on Wednesday.
Reuters
Reuters
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