Special prosecutor Robert Mueller is reportedly close to concluding his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

Suggestions the former FBI director is reaching the endgame of his near two-year investigation into possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign come in a week where prosecutors are also set to publish memos on three key defendants.

The documents are likely to reveal to what extent Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, long-time lawyer Michael Cohen and campaign chief Paul Manafort cooperated with the probe.

Mr Mueller’s prosecutors have told defence lawyers in recent weeks they are “tying up loose ends” as they now prepare to bring the long-running investigation to a close, Yahoo News reported.

There had been a suggestion that prosecutors would file their memo on Manafort under seal to prevent details of further offences Mr Mueller believes the lobbyist may have committed becoming public.

However, it is understood details involving Manafort, who has already been convicted of several fraud offences as a result of the investigation, will now be published, albeit with some redactions.

Manafort, Flynn and Cohen all accepted plea deals for various offences uncovered by the investigation.

Cohen, who previously claimed he would “take a bullet” for Mr Trump, appears to have particularly annoyed the president by co-operating with Mr Mueller’s team.

'Get me out of here' mutters Trump as he wanders off G20 stage leaving Argentina's President Macri on his own

The former lawyer pleaded guilty last week to lying to Congress about negotiations he had on Mr Trump's behalf for a real estate deal in Moscow.

Though he initially claimed talks about a potential Trump Tower in the Russian capital ended in January 2016, he later recanted his story and admitted they lasted as late as June – after Mr Trump had secured the Republican nomination and after Russians had penetrated Democratic email accounts for communications later released through WikiLeaks.

Cohen said he lied out of loyalty to the president, who insisted throughout the campaign that he had no business dealings in Russia.

On Monday, Mr Trump attacked Cohen on Twitter following reports his defence were attempting to avoid a jail term, calling for the lawyer to serve a full sentence and claiming he “makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself.”

President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Show all 16 1 /16 President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty

“You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term?” the president added.

Minutes later, Mr Trump lavished praise on his former campaign adviser Roger Stone, who Mr Mueller’s prosecutors are investigating over claims he had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks’ plans to release hacked emails detrimental to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Mr Trump lauded Mr Stone for saying he would never testify against the president.

“This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about ‘President Trump,’” he tweeted. “Nice to know that some people still have ‘guts!’”

The president’s outburst drew concern in some quarters, including from Democratic senator Mark Warner, who claimed the tweet could amount to witness tampering.

“The President of the United States should not be using his platform to influence potential witnesses in a federal investigation involving his campaign,” Mr Warner said.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

David Weinstein, a former justice department prosecutor in Florida, said he was surprised by Mr Trump's comments, but didn't believe the tweet alone constituted obstruction or witness tampering because it did not explicitly tell anyone what to say or what not to say.

“What he seems to be saying is that people who continue to show support for him, in some way, may be rewarded for that support,” Mr Weinstein said.

“I don't think it rises to the level of obstruction yet, but it certainly would cause people who are conducting the investigation to start asking questions about whether or not the target has reached out to them.”