Washington
Mueller’s interest in the events that led Trump to push out Flynn and Comey indicates that his investigation is aggressively scrutinizing possible efforts by the president or others to hamper the special counsel’s probe.
Discussions about a Trump interview come amid the broader inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, a wide-ranging investigation that has already led to charges against four former Trump advisers.
Mueller now appears to be turning his attention to Trump and key witnesses in his inner circle, raising the pressure on the White House as the administration enters its second year.
Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed for several hours by special counsel investigators, according to Justice Department officials. He is the first member of Trump’s Cabinet to be questioned in the probe.
Months ago, the Special Counsel’s Office also briefly interviewed Comey, who at the time vouched for the contents of memos he wrote about private conversations he had with the president, according to people familiar with the matter. The Sessions and Comey interviews were first reported by the New York Times.
Trump’s attorneys have crafted some negotiating terms for the president’s interview with Mueller’s team, and they could be presented to the special counsel as soon as next week, according to the two people.
The president’s legal team hopes to provide Trump’s testimony in a hybrid form — answering some questions in a face-to-face interview and others in a written statement.
A spokesman for the Special Counsel’s Office, Peter Carr, declined to comment. A White House spokesman referred questions to the president’s legal team. Two attorneys for Trump, Jay Sekulow and John Dowd, declined to comment.
Sitting presidents have been interviewed by prosecutors in the past, though courts have urged government investigators to seek such interviews only when they cannot obtain relevant information another way. In 1998, President Bill Clinton testified for more than four hours before a grand jury via a video link after being subpoenaed by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr.
Within the past two weeks, the Special Counsel’s Office has indicated to the White House that the central subjects investigators wish to discuss with the president are the departures of Flynn and Comey and the events surrounding their firings.
Mueller also has expressed interest in Trump’s efforts to remove Sessions as attorney general or pressure him into quitting, according to a person familiar with the probe. The person said the special counsel was seeking to determine whether there was a “pattern” of behavior by the president.
Trump said, “We’ll see what happens,” when asked directly about meeting with the special counsel.