Reports say Mueller probe now examining possible obstruction

Just as consequentially, the president has repeatedly acted in ways somewhat suspicious for a supposedly innocent man. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing that agency’s counter-intelligence investigation into the Russian interference, and subsequently bragged to Russian officials visiting the White House terminating the “nut job” had eased “great pressure.” But that changed shortly after Trump fired Comey last May, the Post’s sources said.

Even the House intelligence committee – which was nearly derailed by a partisan split and has been slowed by a decision by its chairman, Devin Nunes, not to completely step aside from the probe – took critical steps this week. It has been clear since Comey testified last week that Sessions would be asked about matters related to his firing.

Trump has repeatedly denied colluding with Russian Federation during the presidential campaign, and Comey and others have testified that there is no evidence to the contrary. Sessions reiterated Tuesday those meetings were in his capacity as a lawmaker and not about the campaign.

The gotcha moment laid bare the shaky rationale Sessions used to dodge certain queries, said Ryan Goodman, an expert on national security who served as a special counsel to the general counsel of the Department of Defence during the Obama administration.

House Russia probe leader Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican, and Rep. Adam Schiff, the investigation’s top Democrat, were set to meet with former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson – just a few days after Senate investigators interviewed him.

Republican lawmakers seized on Comey’s testimony to point out Trump wasn’t in the FBI’s crosshairs when Comey led the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That the president is under investigation personally signals a major shift in the probe, which so far has focused on possible collusion between members of his presidential campaign and the Kremlin. Comey, however, would not say that publicly, citing the fact that the investigation was ongoing.

But in a dramatic twist, USA media reports suggest Trump is now under investigation over accusations he tried to influence the FBI inquiry.

It wasn’t until the stars aligned, as the Russian Federation investigation was heating up, that Sessions and Rosenstein could pull the plug, with at least Trump’s blessing.

He disputed that his involvement in Comey’s firing violated the recusal.

Graham indicated he would make his displeasure known to the Justice Department, asking Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein how he could do so. At the end of May, the chief of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section, Andrew Weissman, also joined the team, NPR’s Carrie Johnson reported at the time.

On Tuesday, Sessions said Comey never told him the specifics of that February meeting.

The Post reported that the obstruction of justice investigation of the president began days after James Comey was sacked as the FBI Director on May 9. Trump later contradicted his own staff, saying on May 11 he had the Russian Federation issue in mind when he fired Comey. The special counsel has witness testimony and physical evidence to weigh when evaluating if Trump obstructed justice. He also denied that he asked Comey to utter a loyalty pledge during a private Oval Office meeting before which he asked officials, including Sessions and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, a top White House adviser, to leave the room. After a day of speculation, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “While the president has the right to, he has no intention to do so”. Comey also testified he had told Trump he was not under investigation.

Accounts by Comey and other officials of their conversations with the president could become central pieces of evidence if Mueller decides to pursue an obstruction case.

The letter said the investigation would also probe Comey’s testimony that Loretta Lynch, attorney general under former USA president Barack Obama, had directed him to describe an FBI probe into former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton’s e-mail practices as merely a “matter” and to avoid calling it an investigation.