Trump 'looking forward' to being questioned by Mueller team over possible obstruction of justice
Donald Trump is "looking forward" to being questioned as part of the special counsel's probe of Russian election meddling.
The president said on Wednesday he would be willing to answer questions under oath in the interview, which special counsel Robert Mueller has been seeking but which White House officials had not previously said the president would grant.
"I'm looking forward to it, actually," Trump said when asked by reporters at the White House. And for timing, he said, "I guess they're talking about two or three weeks, but I'd love to do it."
He said, as he has repeatedly, that "there's no collusion whatsoever" with the Russians, and he added, "There's no obstruction whatsoever."
The full scope of Mueller's investigation, which involves hundreds of thousands of documents and dozens of witness interviews, is unknown. And there have been no signs that agents are not continuing to work on ties between Trump's campaign and a Russian effort to tip the 2016 election.
But now that Mueller's team has all but concluded its interviews with current and former Trump officials, and expressed interest in speaking with the president himself, the focus seems to be on the post-inauguration White House. That includes the firing of FBI director James Comey and discussions preceding the removal of White House national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Trump will have to explain to Mueller how his actions do not add up to obstruction of justice, and answer questions tied whether he took steps to thwart an FBI investigation.
So far, witness interviews and the special counsel's document requests make clear Mueller has an interest in Comey's May 9 firing and the contents of Comey's private conversations with the president, as well as the ouster months earlier of Flynn and the weeks of conversations leading up to it.
A focus on potential obstruction has been evident almost since Mueller's appointment as special counsel. And recent interviews with administration officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, have shown that Trump is dealing with prosecutors who already have amassed a wealth of knowledge about the events he will be questioned about.
Four people have so far been charged in the Mueller investigation, including Flynn and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Flynn and former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.