On Wednesday, a report from The Washington Post said President Donald Trump is currently being investigated for possible obstruction of justice by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, who is now overseeing the months-old investigation into possible Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. No evidence has been released detailing such collusion.
The Post reports: "The special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice, officials said."
If the report is true, and it might not be, this would be a major change in the investigation, since, despite numerous false media reports, President Trump was not personally under investigation prior to former FBI Director James Comey's firing. Officials claim Trump became a subject of investigation shortly after the former FBI Director was canned. Per The Post:
The obstruction-of-justice investigation of the president began days after Comey was fired on May 9, according to people familiar with the matter. Mueller’s office has now taken up that work, and the preliminary interviews scheduled with intelligence officials indicate his team is actively pursuing potential witnesses inside and outside the government.The interviews suggest Mueller sees the question of attempted obstruction of justice as more than just a “he said, he said” dispute between the president and the fired FBI director, an official said.
The special counsel has reportedly collected all of Comey's notes and memos regarding his interactions with Trump as part of the investigation.
Last week, while testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said President Trump fired him over the Russian investigation. “It’s my judgment that I was fired because of the Russia investigation,” he said. “I was fired, in some way, to change — or the endeavor was to change the way the Russia investigation was being conducted.”
Comey alleged that President Trump "hoped" he could let the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn go. Flynn's "a nice guy," he apparently told Comey.
As argued by Republican lawmakers, hoping something happens is not an order and thus not obstruction, though Comey confirmed to Senator Marco Rubio that he indeed took it as an order.
Trump has disputed the veracity of Comey's claims.
