Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Ivanka Trump over a brief elevator encounter with the two Russians at the center of a controversial 2016 meeting at Trump Tower that she did not attend.

The Los Angeles Times broke the news this morning, with a report that Ivanka exchanged pleasantries with the Russian duo.

Investigators also are exploring the involvement of the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, who did not attend the half-hour sit-down on June 9, 2016, but briefly spoke with two of the participants, a Russian lawyer and a Russian-born Washington lobbyist. Details of the encounter were not previously known. It occurred at the Trump Tower elevator as the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and the lobbyist, Rinat Akhmetshin, were leaving the building and consisted of pleasantries, a person familiar with the episode said. But Mueller’s investigators want to know every contact the two visitors had with Trump’s family members and inner circle. TRENDING: RUTH BADER GINSBURG DEAD! Supreme Court Justice Dies at Home Surrounded by Family Mueller long has sought to nail down details of the unusual gathering at the height of the presidential race between three of Trump’s top campaign aides — his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his campaign manager, Paul Manafort — and Veselnitskaya, Akhmetshin, plus a Russian language translator, a U.S.-based employee of a Russian real estate group, and a British music promoter with Russian business ties who helped bring the group together.”

The Times reported Mueller is looking at possible obstruction of justice by President Trump over his involvement in writing a press release about the meeting.

Mueller’s team is trying to determine if Trump and others involved in drafting the language aboard Air Force One knew it was inaccurate and whether it was aimed at deceiving federal investigators looking into whether the Trump campaign actively assisted a Russian intelligence operation aimed at interfering in the U.S. campaign. …Mueller’s investigation into possible obstruction of justice by Trump is also examining whether he improperly tried to shield his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, from an FBI investigation and then fired FBI Director James B. Comey to block the inquiry. John Dowd, one of Trump’s lawyers, declined to comment Friday on the direction of Mueller’s inquiry. Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and in a tweet Friday again denounced allegations of collusion with Russia as “a total hoax.”

Complete Times article at this link.

Trump haters are naturally ecstatic at the news of Ivanka Trump being investigated by Mueller.

Will Mueller charge Ivanka Trump in Russia investigation in 2018? https://t.co/ouUvBt4tcA pic.twitter.com/sh1sfqZLMD — Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 6, 2018

https://twitter.com/Havok_2018/status/949689525617549313

https://twitter.com/aliasvaughn/status/949685662592233472

Not mentioned in the Times article is whether Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Tower elevator lobby security camera videos yet.