Former FBI Director James Comey was interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller in 2017 as part of the ongoing investigation into President Donald Trump's alleged campaign ties to the Russian government.
Comey discussed the series of memos in which he documented actions by Trump that had "unnerved" the former FBI brass, The New York Times reported. One memo in particular showed the president asked Comey to end the FBI investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Trump, of course, fired Comey last May which resulted in Mueller's appointment, as well as the wider scope of the investigation that is now looking to also determine if the president committed obstruction of justice. The president has denied claims that he pressured the FBI chief into halting the investigation into Flynn, and has also denied firing Comey because of the ongoing Russia probe. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that that special prosecutor is now prepared to grill the president:
Mueller’s interest in the events that led Trump to push out Flynn and Comey indicates that his investigation is intensifying its focus on possible efforts by the president or others to obstruct or blunt the special counsel’s probe.
The news comes just hours after it was revealed on Tuesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was the first Cabinet member to meet with investigators. Sessions was interviewed for several hours by investigators last Wednesday. Sessions' relationship with Trump has largely soured as a result of the president's frustration over his recusal from the Russia investigation, which Trump has repeatedly called a "witch hunt." Sessions was not under subpoena and it was his first interview with Mueller's team, sources told CNN. The meeting was also confirmed by Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores, but she would not say if Sessions was told to turn over "any documents or communications to Mueller's office."
The president told reporters on Tuesday that he is not worried about Sessions speaking with special investigators.
"No, I'm not at all concerned," Trump said in the Oval Office, CNN reported.
CNN research determined that Sessions was the 15th member of the Trump administration, both current and former, to have been interviewed in the Russia investigation either by Mueller or under Comey's previous leadership.
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