Mueller has dozens of questions for Trump

Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Photo / AP file

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has given a list of almost four dozen questions to lawyers for US President Donald Trump as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and whether Trump obstructed justice, according to a report published in the New York Times.

The newspaper obtained a list of the questions, which range from Trump's motivations for firing FBI Director James Comey a year ago to contacts Trump's campaign had with Russians.

Although Mueller's team has indicated to Trump's lawyers that he's not considered a target, investigators remain interested in whether the President's actions constitute obstruction of justice and want to interview him about several episodes in office.

The lawyers want to resolve the investigation as quickly as possible, but there's no agreement on how to do that.

Many of the questions obtained by the New York Times centre on the obstruction issue, including his reaction to Attorney-General Jeff Sessions' recusal from the Russia investigation, a decision Trump has angrily criticised.

The queries also touch on Trump's businesses and his discussions with his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, about a possible Moscow real estate deal.

Cohen's business dealings are part of a separate FBI investigation.

Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow declined to comment to AP, as did White House lawyer Ty Cobb.

The questions also touch on the Russian meddling and whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin in any way.

In one question obtained by the New York Times, Mueller asks what Trump knew about campaign staff, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, reaching out to Moscow.

Manafort has not been charged with any crimes related to Russian election interference during the 2016 campaign. And he has denied having anything to do with such an effort.

One question asks what discussions Trump may have had regarding "any meeting with Mr Putin," referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Another question asks what the President may have known about a possible attempt by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to set up a back channel with Russia before Trump's inauguration.

-AP

Here are the questions Mueller wants to ask Trump: https://t.co/SlQ3LloALL pic.twitter.com/rLMYTmRJZ7

— Amy Fiscus (@amyfiscus) May 1, 2018

EXCLUSIVE: We have obtained a list of four dozen questions Mueller wants to ask Trump. Among them: What does Trump know about pardon offers to Flynn? What discussions did Trump have in June 2017 about firing Mueller? https://t.co/1WV9EyJWyk

— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) May 1, 2018

3/ So why did Mueller provide the questions to Trump? An obvious answer is that Trump can refuse the interview and plead the Fifth if subpoenaed. Most people under investigation would take the Fifth, but Mueller perhaps thought this could convince Trump to sit for an interview.

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) May 1, 2018

If these are in fact the questions Mueller prepared for Trump, this is a Titanic level leak. Loose lips, sink ships. https://t.co/KAWa6FNTiG

— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) May 1, 2018

NYT's Michael Schmidt @nytmike on where these 49 Mueller questions for Trump came from. pic.twitter.com/ZonYyBNu9p

— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) May 1, 2018

News from these questions:

Mueller is NOT only focused on obstruction issues, as was widely assumed. He's also focused on collusion, particularly with regards to Manafort, Stone, Kushner and Cohen. https://t.co/T2R0vI8dmL

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 1, 2018