US attorney fired by Trump: Mueller team likely looking at everyone

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is likely “looking at everyone up to” President Trump himself as it investigates Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

“I think the Mueller team is looking at every member of the campaign,” Bharara said on CNN. “I think they’re looking at every member of the transition team. I think they’re looking at everyone up to the president of the United States himself.”

Bharara, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was ousted by Trump officials in March after he refused the Justice Department’s demand to step down from his post.

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Bharara’s comments came hours after Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the month before Trump took office.

According to court documents, Flynn lied to investigators when he told them he did not lobby Kislyak on a United Nations Security Council vote condemning Israeli settlements.

The documents also say that Flynn lied when he told the FBI that he did not urge Kislyak to “refrain from escalating the situation” in response to sanctions implemented by the Obama administration in response to Russia’s election meddling.

The documents claim that Flynn’s communications with Kislyak in December 2016 were directed by senior Trump transition officials.

Multiple media outlets reported Friday that Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is the “very senior transition official” referenced in the documents. He reportedly directed Flynn to lobby foreign governments, including Russia, on the Security Council Vote.

Another transition official, former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland, was identified as another “senior transition” official referenced in the documents, according to The Associated Press. She reportedly discussed with Flynn what he would communicate to Kislyak regarding the sanctions.

In pleading guilty on Friday, Flynn became the first person to have worked in the Trump White House to face charges in Mueller’s investigation.