"It isn't news that the president is a subject, but it is news that the president is still a subject, that the president is still under criminal investigation," said John Barrett, a former associate special counsel in the Iran-Contra affair and a law professor at St. John’s. "It's a fair guess that this is a live question, and some kind of direct examination is required to move him up, move him down, move him sideways, and continue to assess."

There’s one other wrinkle here, however. The Justice Department’s current position is that a sitting president cannot be indicted. If Mueller is following Justice Department regulations—and there’s no reason to believe he isn’t—Trump might never move from subject to target, no matter how much evidence of his apparent guilt Mueller obtains.

“Because of the unique position of the president, I could imagine a subject determination by a prosecutor being connected to the legal position that the Justice Department has taken that a president could not be indicted,” said Barrett. "Someone who is not the president who is up to their neck in criminality might be a target. If that's the case here and Mueller believes the president can't be prosecuted, that might be another reason to label him a subject rather than a target."

Far more likely than an indictment is a detailed assessment by Mueller of Trump’s role in whatever the special counsel investigation uncovers. The Post reports that “Mueller’s investigators have indicated to the president’s legal team that they are considering writing reports on their findings in stages—with the first report focused on the obstruction issue.” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would decide whether to make such reports public, Congress could decide whether or not what is in the reports merits impeachment.

The president is neither out of the woods in the Russia investigation, nor is he likely to face criminal charges any time soon, if ever. But for the president’s attorneys, who have reportedly been trying to prevent their client from firing the special counsel, the headlines that identify Trump as not currently a target of a criminal investigation may provide some comfort.

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