Trump: Would 'love to' face Mueller questions _ under oath
WASHINGTON (AP) —  President Donald Trump  declared late Wednesday  he ’s “looking forward” to being questioned — under oath — in the special counsel’s probe of Russian election interference and possible  Trump  obstruction in the firing of the FBI director.
 Trump  said  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. Ad 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 aren’t 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 ouster of White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
The timing and circumstances of a  Trump  interview are still being ironed out. But soon it will probably be the president himself who will have to explain to Mueller how his actions don’t add up to obstruction of justice. And that conversation will be dominated by questions tied whether he took steps to thwart an FBI investigation.
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 ’ll be questioned about.
Prosecutors have interviewed numerous White House aides including  Trump ’s closest confidants such as Counsel Don McGahn  former chief of staff Reince Priebus and the president’s son-in-law  Jared Kushner.
Sessions  the target of the president’s ire since he stepped aside last March from the Russia investigation  would have been able to offer close-up insight into the president’s thinking ahead of the termination. He also could have been able to speak to the president’s relationship with Comey  which Comey documented in a series of memos about conversations with  Trump  that bothered him.
In one memo  Comey described a January 2017 meeting over dinner at which he said the president asked him to pledge his loyalty. Separately  a person familiar with the conversation said this week that  Trump  in a meeting last year with Deputy Director Andrew McCabe brought up McCabe’s wife’s political background following the revelation that she had accepted campaign contributions during a state Senate run from the political action committee of then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe  a close Clinton ally.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday night that  Trump  had also asked McCabe whom he voted for in the presidential race. McCabe replied that he did not vote.  Trump  said Wednesday  he  did not recall asking that question.
Another of Comey’s memos centered on a February conversation at the White House in which  he  said  Trump  told  him   he  believed Flynn  the fired national security adviser  was a “good guy” and encouraged Comey to drop an investigation into him. The FBI had interviewed Flynn weeks earlier about whether  he  had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the transition period between the election and the inauguration. Flynn pleaded guilty in December to lying to the FBI during that interview.
 Mueller  has been investigating the events leading up to Flynn’s dismissal from the White House  including how officials responded to information from former acting Attorney General Sally Yates that Flynn had misled them by saying that  he  had not discussed sanctions. Despite that warning  and despite an FBI interview days after Trump’s inauguration  Flynn was not forced to resign until Feb. 13 — the night of media reports about Yates’ conversation with McGahn.
WASHINGTON (AP) —  [TGT]declared late Wednesday  [TGT] ’s “looking forward” to being questioned — under oath — in the special counsel’s probe of Russian election interference and possible  [TGT]  obstruction in the firing of the FBI director.
 [TGT]said  [TGT]  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 [TGT] would grant.
“I’m looking forward to it  actually ”  [TGT]said when asked by reporters at the White House. Ad for timing   [TGT]  said  “I guess they’re talking about two or three weeks  but I’d love to do it.”
 [TGT]  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 aren’t continuing to work on ties between [TGT] ’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  [TGT]  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 ouster of White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
The timing and circumstances of a  [TGT]  interview are still being ironed out. But soon it will probably be the president himself who will have to explain to Mueller how his actions don’t add up to obstruction of justice. And that conversation will be dominated by questions tied whether he took steps to thwart an FBI investigation.
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  [TGT]is dealing with prosecutors who already have amassed a wealth of knowledge about the events  [TGT] ’ll be questioned about.
Prosecutors have interviewed numerous White House aides including  [TGT] ’s closest confidants such as Counsel Don McGahn  former chief of staff Reince Priebus and the president’s son-in-law  Jared Kushner.
Sessions  the target of the president’s ire since he stepped aside last March from the Russia investigation  would have been able to offer close-up insight into the president’s thinking ahead of the termination. He also could have been able to speak to the president’s relationship with Comey  which Comey documented in a series of memos about conversations with  [TGT]  that bothered him.
In one memo  Comey described a January 2017 meeting over dinner at which he said the president asked him to pledge his loyalty. Separately  a person familiar with the conversation said this week that  Trump  in a meeting last year with Deputy Director Andrew McCabe brought up McCabe’s wife’s political background following the revelation that she had accepted campaign contributions during a state Senate run from the political action committee of then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe  a close Clinton ally.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday night that  [TGT]  had also asked McCabe whom he voted for in the presidential race. McCabe replied that he did not vote.  Trump  said Wednesday  he  did not recall asking that question.
Another of Comey’s memos centered on a February conversation at the White House in which  he  said  Trump  told  him   he  believed Flynn  the fired national security adviser  was a “good guy” and encouraged Comey to drop an investigation into him. The FBI had interviewed Flynn weeks earlier about whether  he  had discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the transition period between the election and the inauguration. Flynn pleaded guilty in December to lying to the FBI during that interview.
 Mueller  has been investigating the events leading up to Flynn’s dismissal from the White House  including how officials responded to information from former acting Attorney General Sally Yates that Flynn had misled them by saying that  he  had not discussed sanctions. Despite that warning  and despite an FBI interview days after Trump’s inauguration  Flynn was not forced to resign until Feb. 13 — the night of media reports about Yates’ conversation with McGahn.