US President Donald Trump is being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for possible obstruction of justice, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified officials.
Mueller is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Former FBI Director James Comey told Congress last week he believes he was fired by Trump to undermine the agency’s Russia probe.
The Washington Post, citing five people briefed on the requests who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 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, had agreed to be interviewed by Mueller’s investigators as early as this week.
The obstruction of justice investigation into Trump began days after Comey was fired on May 9.
“The FBI leak of information regarding the president is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team, Mark Corallo, said.
Several legal experts told Reuters that Trump expected loyalty and told Comey he hoped he could drop an investigation of a former top aide, which bolsters obstruction of justice allegations against Trump.
Comey would not say in his testimony last week whether he thought the president sought to obstruct justice, but added it would be up to Special Counsel Mueller “to sort that out.”
After Comey’s testimony, Trump said he had been vindicated because the former FBI director confirmed telling Trump on three occasions that he was not under 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 US House of Representatives, which is controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans.
