An expanding federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election is placing President Trump in its crosshairs while the Trump camp and allies cry foul over what may be yet another leak.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into possible obstruction of justice. That would mark a turn for the yearlong investigation, as former FBI Director James Comey says he repeatedly told Trump that he was not the subject of the probe. That apparently changed after Trump fired Comey May 9, officials say.
Critics of the president, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said they were not surprised. Not only did Comey assert during his open testimony last week that Trump fired him because of the FBI’s investigation into Russia, but Trump himself also admitted during an interview on NBC that “this Russia thing” was part of the reason why he let Comey go.
Trump’s legal team sent out a rapid response to the report, condemning an apparent “FBI leak” but didn’t go as far as to claim it was false. “The FBI leak of information regarding the President is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal,” said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump’s attorney Marc Kasowitz.
Leaks have become a sensitive issue for the Trump, leading to a number of embarrassing news reports that put his administration on defense. Trump’s supporters were quick to point out the issue with Mueller’s team now seemingly springing leaks. Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, for example, tweeted that this is “[a]nother sign that this investigation has (at the very least) the appearance of taint.”
Also defending the president was the Republican National Committee, stressing that the Post’s “unfounded accusation” doesn’t change anything. “There’s still no evidence of obstruction, and current and former leaders in the intelligence community have repeatedly said there’s been no effort to impede the investigation in any way. The continued illegal leaks are the only crime here,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement.
With rising concerns over leaks, Trump and his backers got a boost from an unlikely source last week: Comey himself. During his testimony he said a New York Times got it wrong with a report about the Trump campaign colluding with Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 election. Moreoever, he said “many, many stories” on the Russia probe were “just dead wrong.” Only so much solace can be taken from his testimony, however, because Comey did reveal that he himself is a leaker.
Trump himself has been silent on The Washington Post report so far, instead paying a visit to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who is being treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound he received at a shooting at a GOP baseball practice in Virginia Wednesday morning.
The Post and another report from the New York Times also said Mueller has requested interviews with three high-ranking current or former intelligence officials. That trio includes Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers and Richard Ledgett, the former NSA deputy director, which according to the New York Times, indicates the probe is shifting to redirect focus on whether Trump obstructed justice but doesn’t quite corroborate the Post report.
At issue is whether Trump pressured them to persuade Comey to end his agency’s investigation into former national security adviser Mike Flynn.
The congressional probes into Russia may already be a step ahead of Mueller on this front. Both Coats and Rogers refused to answer questions about whether Trump tried to interfere with the federal Russia investigation last week in public testimony, but Rogers met behind closed doors with the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, and Coats is expected to testify before that same panel in a closed setting on Thursday.
Ledgett’s role in the inquiry seems to be related to a memo he reportedly wrote documenting the details of a phone call Trump had with Rogers about the Russia probe. During that call, Trump allegedly asked Rogers to say there was no evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and the Russians, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Coats, Rogers and Ledgett have agreed to interviews as early as this week, the Post reported. An official confirmation or announcement from Mueller’s team about an expansion of the probe has yet to be issued.
Though the White House on Tuesday expressed its confidence in Mueller and said the president has “no intention” of firing him, if Trump doesn’t like the way the probe is going, he has the option of asserting executive privilege to prevent the intelligence officials from testifying. But that would likely guarantee a messy legal battle, a move already floated by House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff. “Privilege cannot be used as a shield to protect or hide potential impropriety or illegality. So we may have to go to court to pierce that privilege,” he said on PBS.
But as far as Trump is concerned, opposition to the Russia probes has yet to materialize. Trump neglected to assert executive privilege to stop his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, from testifying before the Senate intelligence panel this week. And while Trump declared on Twitter that he “achieved total and complete vindication” from Comey’s testimony, despite his “false statements and lies,” the president told reporters last week that if he was asked to testify under oath about Comey he would be “100 percent” willing to do it.
It remains to be seen if Trump’s word is his bond.
