We may now know why Trump and his lawyer made their most brazen calls yet for the Mueller investigation to be shut down
Just before President Donald Trump and his lawyer made their boldest appeal yet for the Russia investigation to be shut down, the special counsel Robert Mueller reportedly sent over a list of questions to the president.
Mueller is still seeking a face-to-face interview with Trump, but the questions are said to be a starting point he wants to use for follow-ups.
Shortly after, Trump and his lawyer, John Dowd, called for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to shut down the Russia investigation and fire Mueller.
Shortly before President Donald Trump and one of his personal defense attorneys made their most brazen calls yet for the Russia investigation to be shut down, they apparently received a list of questions from the special counsel Robert Mueller.
The development comes as Trump's legal team has been working for months to sidestep or significantly narrow the scope of an interview between Mueller and their client, who has shown a tendency to exaggerate the facts and make misleading statements.
According to The New York Times, Trump's tweets this weekend came after Mueller sent the questions as part of his negotiations with Trump's legal team over an interview with the president. Mueller is still seeking an interview, sources told The Times, but sent the list as a starting point that he can later use to ask follow-up questions.
Soon after, Trump embarked on one of his most heated, weekend-long tirades against Mueller, former FBI director James Comey, and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe late Friday night, hours before he was set to retire with full pension benefits.
Trump and his lawyer lash out
Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
On Saturday morning, Trump's personal defense attorney, John Dowd, told The Daily Beast the Russia investigation should be shut down.
"I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe's boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier," Dowd said in a text message, according to the report.
Dowd, who is the primary point of contact between Trump and the special counsel, initially said he was making the statement in his capacity as Trump's attorney, but later walked that back and said he was acting in his own capacity and not on Trump's behalf.
Hours later, Trump blasted out a tweet which echoed Dowd's statement about the "fraudulent" Trump-Russia dossier.
"The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime," he tweeted. "It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!"
As the House Intelligence Committee has concluded, there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign. As many are now finding out, however, there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI, Justice & State. #DrainTheSwamp
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
Trump's tweetstorm continued into Sunday morning.
Wow, watch Comey lie under oath to Senator G when asked “have you ever been an anonymous source...or known someone else to be an anonymous source...?” He said strongly “never, no.” He lied as shown clearly on @foxandfriends.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2018
Spent very little time with Andrew McCabe, but he never took notes when he was with me. I don’t believe he made memos except to help his own agenda, probably at a later date. Same with lying James Comey. Can we call them Fake Memos?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2018
Why does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans? Another Dem recently added...does anyone think this is fair? And yet, there is NO COLLUSION!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2018
What Mueller wants to know
The exact content of Mueller's questions to Trump is unclear. But public reporting and updates from Congress indicate there are a few broad topics that Mueller has inquired about.
Trump is currently the focal point of Mueller's obstruction-of-justice investigation, which stems from Trump's decision to fire Comey last May. Comey and McCabe, both of whom kept detailed memos about their conversations with Trump, are critical witnesses in the obstruction probe.
Mueller is also scrutinizing Trump as he investigates whether his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. In particular, Mueller is said to be looking into whether Trump had any advance knowledge of Russia's hack of the Democratic National Committee and the subsequent dissemination of stolen materials.
The Times reported on Thursday that Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for documents related to its efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The revelation appears to be a breach of the "red line" Trump told Mueller he would cross if the investigation ventured into the Trump family's personal finances.
On Friday, Felix Sater, the Russian-born businessman who acted as an intermediary between the Trump Organization and Russia on the deal, confirmed that the company was actively negotiating with a sanctioned Russian bank to secure financing for the building at the height of the 2016 election.
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See Also:
Andrew McCabe reportedly kept memos of his interactions with Trump
Russian-born businessman Felix Sater has confirmed a bombshell detail in the Russia investigation
SEE ALSO: 'Red alert time': Trump's personal attorney is now calling for the Russia probe to be shut down
