President Trump has expressed appreciation to special counsel Robert Mueller while he investigates whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s chief counsel John Dowd told the USA Today on Tuesday the president’s legal team has shared Trump’s messages expressing “appreciation and greetings” to Mueller’s office in private communications.
“He appreciates what Bob Mueller is doing,” Dowd said. “He asked me to share that with him and that’s what I’ve done.”
“The president has sent messages back and forth,” Dowd added, refusing to elaborate if that meant the president has personally corresponded with Mueller.
Trump’s reported private praise of Mueller differs from how the president has approached the Russia investigation in public.
Trump has frequently called Mueller’s probe a “witch hunt” and he has warned the special counsel to not look into his family’s finances. He has also questioned the impartiality of Mueller’s legal team because some of its members have donated money to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton.
Two bipartisan pairs of senators last week introduced legislation requiring a panel of judges to review any decision to fire a special counsel.
Trump’s reported private interactions with Mueller come after the president was scrutinized for conversations he had with former FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired in May.
Comey testified to Congress Trump has pushed him to drop the investigation of Mike Flynn, the president’s former national security adviser who resigned under pressure after he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.
News reports have said Mueller as part of his probe is examining whether Trump obstructed justice through his interactions with Comey.
