One of President Trump’s attorneys on Sunday insisted “there is not an investigation of the president of the United States, period.”
He was responding to reports that a Justice Department investigation has expanded to investigate potential obstruction of justice related to the president’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, as well as apparent confirmation by the president himself.
“Let me be clear here,” said Jay Sekulow, a member of the president’s legal team, on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “The president is not and has not been under investigation for obstruction.”
{mosads}Last week, multiple reports said special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections has expanded to include allegations that Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey, who had been leading the investigation.
“I am being investigated for firing the FBI director by the man who told me to fire the FBI director,” Trump tweeted Friday, in an apparent dig at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who wrote a memo criticizing Comey and subsequently appointed Mueller to lead the investigation.
According to Sekulow, the president’s tweet should not be taken as confirmation he’s under investigation.
“The tweet from the president was in response to the five anonymous sources purportedly leaking info to the Washington Post,” he said.
“He’s not afraid of the investigation — there is no investigation,” Sekulow added. “There has been no notification from the special counsel’s office that the president is under investigation.”
Although he sidestepped a question about whether the special counsel would be legally bound to inform the president he’s under investigation, the attorney insisted “I can’t imagine a scenario where the president would not be aware of it.”
Making the rounds on the Sunday shows, Sekulow also insisted on CNN’s “State of the Union” the Trump’s tweet was in response to The Washington Post story.
“That response on social media was in response to the Washington Post piece. It’s that simple. The president is not under investigation,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
The FBI’s investigation, which Mueller is now leading, is also looking into whether members of Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russian officials to influence the election in his favor. According to Comey, Trump allegedly asked him to “let it go” in reference to the investigation of Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser who resigned after misleading Vice President Pence about meetings with Russia’s ambassador.
– Mallory Shelbourne contributed to this report which was updated at 10:40 a.m.