Last month, Special Counsel Robert Mueller told attorneys for President Trump that Trump is a subject of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but not currently a criminal target, three people familiar with the conversation told The Washington Post.
A "subject" is someone whose conduct prosecutors are investigating but they don't have sufficient evidence to bring charges against. Mueller and Trump's attorneys were negotiating the terms of a possible presidential interview when he made the announcement, and Mueller said he wants to ask Trump about whether he tried to block the investigation so he can finish this part of the probe, the Post reports. Mueller also told Trump's attorneys he is working on a report about Trump's actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, two people with knowledge of the matter told the Post.
Trump has told people he's glad to know he's not a target, and that makes him want to testify. His top attorney for the case, John Dowd, resigned in March, and a Trump friend told the Post that Dowd repeatedly told Trump he didn't think it was a good idea for him to speak with Mueller. Legal experts say a subject could become a target based on the testimony they provide.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Film reviews: ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ and ‘Eternity’Feature Grief inspires Shakespeare’s greatest play, a flamboyant sleuth heads to church and a long-married couple faces a postmortem quandary
-
Poems can force AI to reveal how to make nuclear weaponsUnder The Radar ‘Adversarial poems’ are convincing AI models to go beyond safety limits
-
The military: When is an order illegal?Feature Trump is making the military’s ‘most senior leaders complicit in his unlawful acts’
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
