Special counsel Robert Mueller is examining some of President Trump’s tweets to determine whether the president attempted to obstruct justice in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Mueller is looking at Trump’s tweets about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former FBI Director James Comey, three sources told the New York Times. Mueller wants to question Trump about his tweets, the publication reported Thursday.
Some of Trump’s tweets about the men came as he was pressuring them in private about Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
In a wide-ranging investigation, Mueller is examining Trump’s conversations with Comey and Sessions, as well as other top administration officials, about the Russia probe; misleading White House statements; public attacks on key witnesses; and possible pardon offers made to potential witnesses, the report said.
Mueller would need credible witnesses and evidence showing Trump had criminal intent to make a strong case that the president obstructed justice.
Trump’s lawyers have argued Trump’s actions are not obstruction, and that he is merely defending himself against a “witch hunt.” Some of his lawyers have privately said, however, that they’re concerned Mueller is building an obstruction case.
One of Trump’s lawyers, Rudy Giuliani, brushed off Mueller’s examination of the tweets as desperation.
“If you’re going to obstruct justice, you do it quietly and secretly, not in public,” he told the Times.
[Also read: Rudy Giuliani riles up obstruction of justice talk with remark about why Trump fired James Comey]
