President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE reportedly believes that special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE’s probe into Russia’s election inference and any potential ties between his campaign staff and the Kremlin is nearing the end.

The Washington Post, in a report published Sunday, said White House officials think the investigation’s current emphasis on individuals who were close to the president means the probe will soon come to an end.

But a current law professor who was once a federal prosecutor told the newspaper that there is no sign Mueller’s probe will soon be over.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I don’t think there’s any reason to believe this is almost over,” Randall Eliason said.

“Based not just on what we’ve seen but also what we know about white-collar investigations generally, this seems to me like it is just getting started.”

A multiple-count indictment that included charges of tax fraud and conspiracy against the United States was unveiled last month against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and one of his former business associates, Richard Gates.

On the same day that the indictment was revealed, the news also broke that George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide, had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI as part of its Russia probe.

Trump has dismissed the probe as politically motivated, arguing it is an “excuse” for the Democrats’ loss in the 2016 presidential election.

Ty Cobb, an attorney for the White House, believes the investigation will end by the close of this year or not long after, according to The Washington Post, which said that the president has also come around to this thinking.

“I’ve done my best, without overstepping, to share my view that the perception of the inquiry — that it involved a decade or more of financial transactions and other alleged issues that were mistakenly reported — just wasn’t true, and that the issues were narrower and wholly consistent with the mandate provided by the Justice Department to the Office of the Special Counsel,” Cobb told the newspaper.