Trump acknowledges he is under
investigation in Russia probe
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[June 17, 2017]
By Susan Heavey and Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump acknowledged on Friday he is under investigation in a probe of
alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential race and possible
collusion by his campaign - and seemed to assail the Justice Department
official overseeing the inquiry.
Robert Mueller, the special counsel named by the department to
investigate the Russia matter, is now examining whether Trump or others
sought to obstruct the probe, a person familiar with the inquiry said on
Thursday.
"I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told
me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt," Trump wrote on Twitter,
referring to his May 9 dismissal of James Comey.
Trump did not identify "the man" but appeared to be questioning the
integrity of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice
Department's No. 2 official who appointed Mueller on May 17, supervises
the probe and wrote a memo to Trump critical of Comey that preceded
Comey's firing.
Hours later, a source close to Trump's outside legal team said Trump did
not intend his tweet to be confirmation of the investigation but rather
was reacting to a Washington Post story on Wednesday about the probe.
The source spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Rosenstein has said privately he may need to recuse himself from matters
relating to the Russia probe because he could become a witness in the
investigation, ABC News reported on Friday. ABC said Rosenstein told
Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand she would have authority over
the probe if he were to step aside.
The Democratic National Committee called on Rosenstein to recuse himself
from the Russia matter, but it said authority over the investigation
should be given to Mueller and not another Trump appointee.
While the Republican Trump administration initially said Rosenstein's
letter was the reason the president fired Comey on May 9, Trump later
said he did so because of the "Russia thing."
Comey told a Senate panel last week he believed Trump fired him to
undermine the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Russia probe. Comey
testified that Trump directed him in February to drop an FBI
investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn
relating to the Russia matter.
Comey testified it would be up to Mueller to decide whether Trump's
action amounted to obstruction of justice, an act that could be cited in
any effort in the Republican-led Congress to impeach him and remove him
from office.
TRUMP'S LAWYER HIRES A LAWYER
The Russia issue has cast a shadow over Trump's five months in office.
In another indication of the seriousness of the probe, Michael Cohen, a
personal attorney to Trump, said he has retained attorney Stephen Ryan,
a former assistant U.S. attorney, to represent him in the ongoing
probes. Cohen has received a subpoena from one of the congressional
committees looking into the Russia issue.
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![](../images/061717pics/news_d9.jpg)
President Donald Trump speaks about the shootings in Alexandria,
Virginia, from the White House in Washington, U.S., June 14, 2017.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Rosenstein has authority over the inquiry because Attorney General
Jeff Sessions recused himself on March 2 after revelations of
previously undisclosed meetings with Russia's ambassador to
Washington while he was a Trump campaign adviser.
Brand was confirmed as the No. 3 Justice Department official on a
52-46 vote in the Senate on May 18, with Democrats lining up against
her.
From 2011 until her confirmation, she was a lawyer for the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce business lobbying group's legal arm, which
played a major role in marshaling legal opposition to environmental
and labor regulations championed by Democratic former President
Barack Obama.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Senate Intelligence Committee
member, said she was "increasingly concerned" Trump would try to
fire not only Mueller, but also Rosenstein.
"The message the president is sending through his tweets is that he
believes the rule of law doesn't apply to him and that anyone who
thinks otherwise will be fired," Feinstein said.
A Trump confidant said this week the president had considered firing
Mueller. Rosenstein, who would be responsible for actually
dismissing Mueller, told U.S. lawmakers he would fire him only with
good cause.
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russia
interfered in the presidential race to try to help Trump win, in
part by hacking and releasing emails damaging to his Democratic
opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Moscow has denied any interference. The White House denies any
collusion.
Trump kept up his criticism of the investigations, writing on
Twitter, "After 7 months of investigations & committee hearings
about my 'collusion with the Russians,' nobody has been able to show
any proof. Sad!"
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Patricia Zengerle, Lawrence Hurley,
David Alexander, Dustin Volz, Roberta Rampton and Julia Edwards
Ainsley in Washington; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Frances
Kerry and Howard Goller)
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