Just days after President Trump exclaim-tweeted that “there is no collusion” and this is a “witch hunt,“ NBC News reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known.
Mueller’s investigators have asked witnesses whether Trump was aware of plans for WikiLeaks to publish the emails. They have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia.
And furthermore, a breathless Katy Tur reports, questions have been asked as to whether he was involved in their strategic release, according to multiple people familiar with the probe.
The line of questioning suggests the special counsel, who is tasked with examining whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, is looking into possible coordination between WikiLeaks and Trump associates in disseminating the emails, which U.S. intelligence officials say were stolen by Russia.
Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion.
NBC News goes on to note that in one line of questioning, investigators have focused on Trump’s public comments in July 2016 asking Russia to find emails that were deleted by his then-opponent Hillary Clinton from a private server she maintained while secretary of state.
The comments came at a news conference on July 27, 2016, just days after WikiLeaks began publishing the Democratic National Committee emails. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said.
Witnesses have been asked whether Trump himself knew then that Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta, whose emails were released several months later, had already been targeted. They were also asked if Trump was advised to make the statement about Clinton’s emails from someone outside his campaign, and if the witnesses had reason to believe Trump tried to coordinate the release of the DNC emails to do the most damage to Clinton, the people familiar with the matter said.
So to summarize NBC News’ post – Some Trump-related people have been asked lots of Russia-related questions… with no reported results.
Does this seem like just another ‘old news’ dredged up as new ‘fake news’ story to anyone else?
Of course, with Gates and Manafort on the block, this would seem like a well-timed leak from Mueller’s tightly-run ship to send a message to President Trump designed to perhaps spook him?
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/2owBz09 Tyler Durden