Special Counsel Robert Mueller is examining whether Donald Trump tried to obstruct justice.
Donald Trump is under investigation for possible obstruction of justice by the special counsel appointed to examine Russia’s role in the presidential election, it was reported on Tuesday night.
The US president last month fired James Comey, the former FBI director who had been investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and links between Trump aides and Moscow.
Mr Comey told Congress last week he believed he was fired by Mr Trump to undermine the agency’s Russia investigation. The US president had previously received assurances from Mr Comey that he was not under investigation.
Senior intelligence officials, including Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence and Mike Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, have agreed to be interviewed by the special counsel as early as next week, the report stated.
The move, if confirmed, would mark a significant escalation in the scope of the investigation and increase pressure on the US president.
Robert Mueller, himself a former FBI director, was appointed last month to run the special counsel following Mr Comey's dismissal. The counsel is also reportedly examining possible financial crimes among the Trump administration and election campaign.
The shift towards investigating the president himself began days after the firing of Mr Comey as FBI director on May 9, the report said.
Quoting officials, the Washington Post said one event of interest to Mr Mueller was an exchange on March 22, when Mr Coats told associates that Mr Trump had asked him to intervene with Mr Comey to get him to back off the focus on Mr Trump's former national security adviser Mike Flynn as part of the FBI probe.
Mr Trump denies any collusion between himself or any of his associates and Russia.
A spokesman for Mr Trump’s lawyer last night said “the FBI leak of information regarding the President is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal”.
A spokesman for Mr Mueller's team declined to comment.
Several legal experts told Reuters that Mr Comey's testimony last week that Mr Trump expected loyalty and told Mr Comey he hoped he could drop an investigation of a former top aide could bolster obstruction of justice allegations against Mr Trump.
There were claims earlier this week that Mr Trump was also considering “terminating” Mr Mueller. However, the White House yesterday said the president had no plans to do so.
Christopher Ruddy, a friend of Mr Trump’s, had claimed that the president was considering firing Mr Mueller and questions were raised by Trump aides over the former FBI director’s impartiality.
“While the president has the right to, he has no intention to do so,” Sarah Sanders, a White House spokesman said.
The effort to muddy the waters surrounding the investigation is coming amid growing White House concern that the Russia probe could detract from the president’s agenda for months or years to come.
Senators yesterday questioned both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on how the inquiry was being handled.
Mr Sessions yesterday vehemently denied any collusion with Russia to tilt last year’s election in Mr Trump’s favour, branding the suggestion an “appalling and detestable lie”. He was being questioned as part of a separate congressional hearing on the subject.
Until now, Mr Mueller had drawn widespread praise from Republicans and Democrats alike. Mr Trump has not yet passed comment on Mr Mueller.
And leading Republicans waved off the idea of firing Mr Mueller, with House Speaker Paul Ryan saying that his advice was to "let Robert Mueller do his job" and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voicing confidence in the special counsel.
But expressions of discontent with Mr Mueller are bubbling up nonetheless.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich led one line of attack with a tweet that said "Republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair". He added that fundraising records show some of the lawyers whom Mr Mueller selected for his team have contributed to Democrats.
"It makes sense to point out any level of bias, to highlight any biases inherent in Mueller and this probe in order to force him to be transparent," Mr Gingrich said. He said Mr Trump had called him on Monday night and the two discussed Mr Gingrich's concerns about the probe.
