The paper said it had obtained a list of nearly 50 questions that Mueller, investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, wants to put to the US president. More than half relate to potential obstruction of justice.
“What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?” is one of the more dramatic questions published by the Times.
The pointed reference to Manafort breaks tantalising new ground, since there was no previous evidence linking him to outreach to Moscow. Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, tweeted: “This is very interesting - strong evidence that there are still collusion threads that are not yet public.”
Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, pleaded not guilty last October to a 12-count indictment accusing them of conspiring to defraud the US by laundering $30m from their work for a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine.
Mueller recently supplied Trump’s lawyers with 10 pages of questions. They offer a dramatic insight into the special counsel’s mind and make clear that Trump is a subject, not a mere witness, in the investigation. It is not yet known whether the president will agree to be interviewed.
Trump responded by Twitter on Tuesday, complaining about the leaking of the questions and writing: “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!”
He added: “It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!”
One batch of questions relates to alleged coordination between the Trump election campaign and Moscow. Donald Trump Jr’s June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York with a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information about rival Hillary Clinton is naturally under scrutiny. Mueller wants to ask when Trump became aware of the meeting; Trump Jr claimed his father did not know about it in advance.
Another questions asks: “What involvement did you have in the communication strategy, including the release of Donald Trump Jr’s emails?” This relates to whether Trump helped draft a misleading statement in his son’s name that did not acknowledge the real reason for the Trump Tower meeting.
The meeting was arranged through the Russian singer Emin Agalarov, his billionaire father, Aras Agalarov, and the British music publicist Rob Goldstone. According to the Times report, Mueller intends to ask: “During a 2013 trip to Russia, what communication and relationships did you have with the Agalarovs and Russian government officials?”
The questions also cover possible meetings with the Russian president Vladimir Putin, discussions about Russian sanctions and whether Trump had any involvement in Republican party platform changes regarding the arming of Ukraine.
A central question, especially after recent revelations about the Trump-linked political consultancy Cambridge Analytica’s use of data harvested from Facebook, is: “During the campaign, what did you know about Russian hacking, use of social media or other acts aimed at the campaign?
Mueller also wants to ask: “What did you know about communication between Roger Stone, his associates, Julian Assange or WikiLeaks?” And: “What did you know during the transition about an attempt to establish back-channel communication to Russia, and Jared Kushner’s efforts?”
Most questions relate to obstruction of justice before and during Trump’s presidency, diving into Trump’s litany of contradictory statements and tweets.
They address a web of interactions with the former national security adviser Michael Flynn (“What efforts were made to reach out to Mr Flynn about seeking immunity or possible pardon?”), the former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, the former acting attorney general Sally Yates, the attorney general Jeff Sessions, Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen and the former FBI director James Comey. “What was the purpose of your Jan 27, 2017, dinner with Mr Comey, and what was said?”
Mueller also zeros in on Trump’s TV interview with journalist Lester Holt, in which he said he had been considering the Russian matter when he fired Comey. “What did you mean in your interview with Lester Holt about Mr Comey and Russia?”
Even Trump’s Twitter feed is under the spotlight. On 12 May 2017, the president wrote: “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Mueller wants to know the purpose of that tweet.
Mueller is also interested in his own fate. “What discussions did you have regarding terminating the special counsel, and what did you do when that consideration was reported in January 2018?” Trump had been reluctant to categorically rule out Mueller’s dismissal and it is uncertain how the release of these questions will affect that equation.
The New York Times said the document was provided to it by a person outside Trump’s legal team and the special counsel’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Comey, promoting a new book, spoke an event organised by the Axios website and Politics & Prose bookshop in Washington on Monday evening. He said in a normal environment, a sitting president would not be able to avoid an interview about his conduct. “As an American citizen, I would expect my president to respect the rule of law ... and to cooperate with a lawful, appropriate investigation,” he said.
The Guardian
