As part of his investigation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller is examining the period of time last summer when President Trump appeared set on getting Attorney General Jeff Sessions to leave his post, several people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.
Mueller is reportedly interested in whether this is part of a pattern of attempted obstruction of justice. Over the last few months, Mueller's investigators have been asking witnesses about Trump's state of mind in late July and early August 2017, as well as private comments he made about Sessions; they are trying to determine if Trump's goal was to oust Sessions so he could replace him with someone able to have control over the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation.
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