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Former Trump Spokesman Spicer Questioned in Mueller Russia Probe

Trump’s former press secretary, Sean Spicer, was interviewed Monday by Robert Mueller’s team.

Former Trump Spokesman Spicer Questioned in Mueller Russia Probe
Sean Spicer, outgoing White House press secretary. (Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s former press secretary, Sean Spicer, was interviewed Monday by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, said two people familiar with the matter.

Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether there was any collusion between Trump’s campaign and Vladimir Putin’s government. Among the events Mueller is examining is Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey in May and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, both of which occurred while Spicer was press secretary.

Spicer left the White House at the end of August after his main ally in the White House, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was forced out in an internal power struggle. Priebus was interviewed by Mueller’s team on Friday.

Spicer’s interview with the special prosecutor’s team was reported earlier by Politico.

Mueller team’s meeting with Spicer suggests the special prosecutor is ramping up interviews with the Trump White House inner circle.

Mueller’s team also has interviewed Keith Kellogg, the chief of staff of the White House National Security Council under both Flynn and his successor, said two people familiar. Kellogg, a retired army lieutenant general, didn’t bring an attorney to the interview, said one of the people.

In addition to Priebus and Spicer, Mueller is expected to interview White House Counsel Don McGahn; James Burnham, an associate in the White House counsel’s office; communications director Hope Hicks and possibly Josh Raffel, a spokesman for Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, a person familiar with the investigation said last month.

To contact the reporters on this story: Shannon Pettypiece in New York at spettypiece@bloomberg.net, Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net, Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Mike Dorning, Michael B. Marois