President Trump asked his former chief of staff Reince Priebus in December last year about an interview he had several months prior with special counsel Robert Mueller, according to a new report.
Trump asked Priebus if Mueller’s team, which is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, had been “nice” to him, people familiar with the conversation told The New York Times. Priebus reportedly did not disclose any specific details and did not share information he had told the investigators.
White House chief of staff John Kelly was present when Trump broached the topic, but it’s not known if he stepped in to stop the conversation. Regardless, sources said that the conversation did not last more than several minutes.
Additionally, the report said Trump requested White House counsel Don McGahn to release a statement refuting a previous report from the newspaper that claimed McGahn shared with Mueller’s team that Trump had asked that he terminate Mueller.
McGahn never issued a statement on the report, and later had to point out to Trump that the president had actually asked him to remove Mueller, the report said.
Mueller is said to be aware about both of the conversations Trump had with McGahn and Priebus.
