Special counsel Robert Mueller drafted indictments against Donald Trump before ultimately deciding against charging the sitting president with obstruction of justice, according to a new book penned by author Michael Wolff.

The alleged three-count obstruction of justice indictment was immediately disputed by a spokesperson for the special counsel after first being reported on Tuesday. The Guardian reportedly viewed the indictment documents while reviewing a copy of the book Siege: Trump Under Fire.

However, according to Mr Mueller’s spokesperson Peter Carr, those documents “do not exist”.

The reported draft document would have allegedly charged Mr Trump with influencing, obstructing or impeding a pending proceeding before a department or agency of the United States, according to the outlet, along with tampering with a witness, victim or informant and retaliating against a witness, victim or informant. The charges fall under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1505, 1512 and 1513 respectively.

The alleged indictment went on to describe “extraordinary lengths” the president took “to protect himself from legal scrutiny and accountability, and to undermine the official panels investigating his actions,” according to Mr Wolff – whose explosive first book about the Trump presidency, called Fire and Fury, sold nearly five million copies.

Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 1 /12 Mueller investigation: The key figures Mueller investigation: The key figures Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS Mueller investigation: The key figures Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA Mueller investigation: The key figures Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

Revelations of the alleged indictments arrive as Congressional Democrats seek to bring the special counsel before committees investigating the president’s potential obstruction of justice outlined in Mr Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The massive report detailed at least 11 cases in which the president possibly committed obstruction of justice. Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill have suggested the special counsel was passing the decision to Congress about whether to implicate the president in a high crime or misdemeanour.

Mr Mueller has not yet indicated whether he intends to testify before Congress, and rarely releases public statements through his spokespeople. But the author’s controversial new claims could almost certainly be expected to lead the news cycle as Mr Trump returns from his official state visit to Japan over the holiday weekend.

More than a thousand former federal prosecutors have signed an open letter stating Mr Trump would have been charged with obstruction of justice based on the special counsel’s report, were it not for Justice Department guidelines that say a sitting president cannot be charged.

The alleged indictments against Mr Trump reportedly dispute those guidelines, however.

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“The Impeachment Judgment Clause, which applies equally to all civil officers including the president … takes for granted … that an officer may be subject to indictment and prosecution before impeachment,” the reported document reads, according to The Guardian. “If it did not, the clause would be creating, for civil officers, precisely the immunity the Framers rejected.”