Trump Lawyers Are Said to Meet Mueller as Early as Next Week
Trump Lawyers Are Said to Meet Mueller as Early as Next Week
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s private lawyers are set to meet with Special Counsel Robert Mueller as early as next week to discuss the next phases of his Russia investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter.
John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, who represent Trump personally, will likely use the meeting to get a sense of the next steps in Mueller’s probe, which has already resulted in indictments and plea deals involving four former associates of the president.
Dowd declined to comment on the meeting, while Sekulow said, “We do not and will not discuss our periodic communications with the special counsel.” CNN first reported the planned meeting.
The president’s legal team has said it has been cooperating with Mueller even as the president’s lawyers continue to send signals that they expect the special counsel to begin wrapping up his probe soon.
Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer, said in November that he expected interviews with White House staff to wrap up shortly after Thanksgiving and that the vast majority of documents requested from the White House by Mueller were handed over in October.
“The office of special counsel is working diligently to complete its interviews” and the White House has been cooperating with the investigation to expedite its conclusion, Cobb said back then.
A U.S. official said it’s possible that Mueller’s team of more than two dozen prosecutors and FBI agents will complete an opening round of interviews with key Trump aides who worked in the White House by the end of the year, but additional interviews could be scheduled later.
Mueller was given a broad mandate when he was appointed by the Justice Department in May to investigate whether Trump or any of his associates colluded with Russia to influence the U.S. election, as well as any other matters arising from that inquiry.
To build his case, Mueller has had to pursue multiple investigate angles beyond the White House, a second U.S. official said. Those include potential obstruction of justice related to Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, financial dealings in the U.S. and abroad by Trump family members and associates, and Moscow’s efforts to manipulate Facebook and other social-media platforms, the official said.
So far, Mueller has indicted Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, as well as another campaign aide, Rick Gates, for money laundering and other crimes. Manafort and Gates have said they aren’t guilty. Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents and agreed to be a cooperating witness in Mueller’s probe. George Papadopoulos, a junior foreign-policy adviser to the Trump campaign, also pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the timing of his contacts with Russian operatives.
Among those who have been interviewed by Mueller’s team are White House Counsel Don McGahn, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, former spokesman Sean Spicer and National Security Council chief of staff Keith Kellogg, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Others whose activity is under investigation include Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the second official said.
--With assistance from Chris Strohm and Shannon Pettypiece
To contact the reporter on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning
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