CIA director Mike Pompeo has been questioned by the special counsel’s office investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Donald Trump’s campaign, NBC News reported on Wednesday.



Quick guide What are the Trump-Russia congressional inquiries? Show Hide Beyond Mueller Three separate congressional committees are investigating Russian tampering in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign: the Senate judiciary and intelligence committees, and the House intelligence committee. The committees have the power to subpoena witnesses and documents. The list of witnesses to have been interviewed so far is long, and includes Donald Trump Jr and Jared Kushner, as well as lesser figures such as former adviser Carter Page; Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Fusion GPS, which commissioned the Steele dossier; and Ben Rhodes, the former Obama adviser. Senate intelligence committee The most aggressive of the three committees so far, with a reasonable appearance of bipartisanship. Republican chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina said in October that the question of potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives remained open. But Burr has also said the committee was not focused on “criminal acts” but a larger picture. The committee notably heard testimony from James Comey after the former FBI director was fired. Senate judiciary committee Hampered early on by partisan disagreement about the scope of its investigation, the committee has interviewed top witnesses including Donald Trump Jr and has taken a particular focus on the firing of James Comey. But the committee has deferred to Mueller in the investigation of Paul Manafort and has interviewed fewer witnesses than others.

House intelligence committee Riven by partisan conflict, the committee appears to be on track to produce two reports – one from each party. Chairman Devin Nunes recused himself from the inquiry in March after Trump tweeted that Barack Obama had "tapp[ed] my phones" and Nunes, in an apparent attempt to defend the president, revealed that some communications involving Trump aides had been intercepted by US surveillance programs.



The report comes one day after the DoJ said Robert Mueller’s office questioned attorney general Jeff Sessions last week, a significant step in an inquiry that has overshadowed Trump’s first year in office.

Trump-Russia investigation: the key questions answered Read more

Mueller’s office also interviewed former FBI director James Comey shortly after Trump fired Comey in May 2017, a person familiar with the matter has told Reuters. The dismissal led to Mueller’s appointment to take over the FBI’s Russia investigation.

Comey’s dismissal is central to the question of whether Trump may have committed obstruction of justice related to the Russia investigation.

NBC, citing people familiar with the inquiry, did not say when the interview with Pompeo occurred but said one person familiar with the inquiry called him a “peripheral witnesses” to Comey’s firing.

Representatives for the CIA said the US intelligence agency had no comment on NBC’s report.

NBC also reported that former senior campaign aide and White House strategist Steve Bannon is expected to meet with Mueller’s team by the end of January. Bannon had earlier reached an agreement to be interviewed by Mueller’s investigators instead of appearing before a grand jury.

According to a CNN report, citing anonymous sources “familiar with the investigation” on Wednesday, Mueller’s office wants to question Bannon about the decisions to fire Comey and Michael Flynn, who was briefly the president’s national security adviser. Flynn was fired only 24 days into the role, after he misled the vice-president about his contacts with Russias’ ambassador to the US.

In December, Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI.

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 campaign using hacking and propaganda to try to tilt the race in Trump’s favor. Russia has denied it. Trump has denied any collusion with Russia, and has called the Mueller’s investigation a “witch hunt.“

Discussions have been under way about the possibility of Mueller’s team interviewing Trump, according to a person familiar with the talks. The Washington Post reported late on Tuesday that Mueller wants to interview Trump in coming weeks.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday the White House would be “fully cooperative with the special counsel.” Trump told reporters he was “not at all concerned” about the interview with Sessions.

The questioning of the attorney general was the first time Mueller’s office is known to have interviewed a member of the cabinet.

Reuters contributed to this report