Donald Trump ignored White House legal advice by asking key witnesses in the Russia investigation about their conversations with investigators, according to a new report.
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The US president reportedly asked Reince Priebus, his former chief of staff, how his interview with the FBI investigators had gone and whether they had been "nice".
Mr Trump also reportedly attempted to get the White House lawyer Donald McGahn to deny a report that the president had instructed him to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel heading up the investigation.
AP
Mr McGahn refused to do so, on the grounds that the report was true, according to sources quoted by the New York Times. The White House has not yet responded to the reports.
There is no suggestion Mr Trump’s queries would amount to witness tampering, but they suggest Mr Trump has ignored his lawyers’ advice not to do anything that could be viewed as interfering with the probe.
Mr Mueller and his team are investigating possible collusion between Mr Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.
However a portion of Mr Mueller’s investigation is said to focus on whether the president has tried to obstruct the inquiry – one of the grounds for impeachment.
Investigators have recently questioned witnesses about the nature of their interactions with Mr Trump since the Russia investigation began, it was claimed.
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Mr Trump has already faced questions over his decision to sack the former FBI director James Comey who was initially heading up the inquiry.
Mr Comey claimed that the president had asked for his loyalty and to end the inquiries into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn shortly before he was sacked.
In January, a number of US newspapers and broadcasters reported that Mr Trump had also sought to fire Mr Mueller, who took over the investigation following Mr Comey’s departure.
Mr Trump was said to have accused Mr Mueller of having conflicts of interest with the investigation and instructed Mr McGahn to request his dismissal.
Mr McGahn refused to make the request to the Justice Department and threatened to quit, according to sources. Mr Trump then relented.
The US president has previously denied the report, dismissing it as “fake news”.
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