WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the Russia investigation (all times local):
9:35 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s former attorney says special counsel Robert Mueller raised the prospect of issuing a grand jury subpoena to compel the president to testify as part of the Russia probe.
Attorney John Dowd tells The Associated Press on Tuesday that Mueller’s team broached the subject in March during a meeting with Trump’s legal team. The meeting marks the first time the special counsel raised the possibility of compelling Trump to testify as part of the investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates.
Mueller is also investigating the president for possible obstruction of justice.
Dowd’s comments come more than a month after he resigned from the legal team. Trump has since hired former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and two former federal prosecutors to replace Dowd.
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7:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump says it’s “disgraceful” that a list of questions the special counsel investigating Russian election interference wants to ask him have become public.
The New York Times late Monday published the nearly four dozen questions to Trump’s lawyers. The questions range from Trump’s motivations for firing FBI Director James Comey last May to contacts Trump campaign officials had with Russians.
Trump tweeted Tuesday that it is “so disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see…you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!”
Trump says the investigation is a “witch hunt” and insists his campaign did not collude with Russia.
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12:40 a.m.
The New York Times is reporting that the special counsel investigating Russian election meddling and obstruction of justice has given President Donald Trump’s lawyers a list of almost four dozen questions.
The Times reports that the questions from Robert Mueller’s team cover Trump’s motivations for firing FBI Director James Comey and contacts Trump’s campaign had with Russians as well as other matters. The Times reports that it obtained a list of the questions.
According to the newspaper, many of the questions center on the obstruction issue, including Trump’s reaction to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal from the Russia investigation, a decision Trump has angrily criticized.
The questions also touch on the Russian meddling and whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin in any way.
