Special Counsel Robert Mueller has tons of questions he intends to ask President Donald Trump, ranging from possible ties to Russia and obstruction of justice to his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, which are part of his ongoing investigation into Moscow’s interference into the 2016 presidential election.
The New York Times has obtained the open-ended questions Mueller wished to ask Trump in an attempt to understand the motivation behind some of his most combative Twitter posts and to examine his relationships with his family and his closest aides. More specifically, they delve into the President’s high-profile firings of former FBI director James Comey and former national security advisor Michael Flynn, as well as into a 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.
The questions also look into Trump’s possible efforts to obstruct the investigation itself, and any ties he may have had with Russia through personal lawyer Michael Cohen, son-in-law Jared Kushner and longtime advisor Roger Stone, CNBC reports.
The list of questions offer an insight into the highly-guarded Russia probe and reveal, among other things, that he is still investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. However, there are also questions about any discussions President Trump had about his attempts to fire the special counsel himself and what he knew about possible pardon offers to Flynn.
“What efforts were made to reach out to Mr. Flynn about seeking immunity or possible pardon?” Mueller planned to ask, according to questions read by the special counsel investigators to the President’s lawyers, who compiled them into a list. That document was provided to The Times by a person outside the President’s legal team.
In one of the more tantalizing questions, the special counsel asks what Trump knew about campaign aides, including the former chairman Paul Manafort, seeking assistance from Moscow. “What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?”
Other inquires pertain to public threats Trump made, conflicting statements from both him and White House aides, his private admissions to Russian officials, a secret meeting at an island resort, WikiLeaks, salacious accusations and dramatic congressional testimony, the Times says.
Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump, declined to comment. A spokesman for the special counsel’s office likewise did not respond to a request for comment.
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