This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Robert Mueller warned he might issue a subpoena for the president if he declined to talk to investigators in the Russia inquiry, a former lawyer for the president has said.



John Dowd said Mueller mentioned the possibility of a subpoena in a meeting with Trump’s lawyers in March. The warning was first reported by the Washington Post, which cited four people familiar with the encounter.

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“This isn’t some game. You are screwing with the work of the president of the United States,” Dowd said he told the investigators, who are investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Dowd left the president’s legal team about two weeks after the meeting.

The Post said Mueller had raised the possibility of a subpoena after Trump’s lawyers said the president had no obligation to talk with federal investigators involved in the probe.

After the March meeting, Mueller’s team agreed to provide the president’s lawyers with more specific information about the nature of their questioning, the Post reported.

With that information, Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow compiled a list of 49 questions the president’s legal team believed he would be asked, according to the Post.

That list, first reported by the New York Times on Monday, includes questions on Trump’s ties to Russia and others to determine whether the president may have unlawfully tried to obstruct the investigation.

Russia investigation: leaked questions reveal what Mueller wants to ask Trump Read more

Trump on Tuesday criticised the leak of the questions.

He wrote on Twitter: “So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media. No questions on Collusion. It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened!”

He added on Wednesday morning: “There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax) and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup & trap). What there is is Negotiations going on with North Korea over Nuclear War, Negotiations going on with China over Trade Deficits, Negotiations on NAFTA, and much more. Witch Hunt!”

US intelligence agencies allege Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has repeatedly denied there was any collusion between his campaign and Moscow.