Ty Cobb had previously said he expected the interviews to wrap up by Thanksgiving but, as the holiday approached, he backed away from that timeline. | Jerry Cleveland/The Denver Post via AP White House lawyer: Mueller finished with interviews he’s requested

Special counsel Robert Mueller on Tuesday completed interviews with the last in a slate of about two dozen current and former White House witnesses he’s initially requested as part of the investigation into Russia's actions in the presidential election, White House attorney Ty Cobb said.

It’s unclear if Mueller will seek follow-up interviews or seek to question additional people beyond the initial batch of witnesses, but the completion of this round of questioning tracks with the goal Cobb has long stated publicly that President Donald Trump’s White House was cooperating with the Russia investigators in search of a speedy resolution to the probe.


White House attorneys have declined to name specific staffers interviewed, but sources tracking the investigation said people questioned have included former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, presidential spokesman Sean Spicer, White House communications director and former campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks, and current White House counsel Don McGahn.

Cobb had previously said he expected the interviews to wrap up by Thanksgiving but, as the holiday approached, he backed away from that timeline. Cobb has also said he was looking for Mueller to issue a statement by the end of the year exonerating the president.

Mueller’s office declined to comment on Cobb’s characterization of the special counsel probe.

But longtime observers of special counsel cases have cast doubt on Cobb’s timeline.

For starters, Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, as well as former campaign aide Rick Gates, have both pleaded not guilty to charges in the Mueller probe and face trial sometime next year. Two other former Trump officials, Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos, have pleaded guilty on charges of lying to the FBI and are cooperating with Mueller’s investigations.

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“You say what you need to say to keep the sun coming up in the morning, but if you woke Ty Cobb up in the middle of the night and ask him if he thinks this is really going to be over in three weeks I think his answer is, ‘Are you f------ kidding me? Of course it won’t,’” said one white-collar attorney representing a senior Trump official in the Russia probe.

“It’s nonsensical,” the lawyer added. “But it may be the most useful thing he can say to keep the president from going overboard and to keep the wheels on the bus.”