President Trump has sent private messages to Russia special counsel Robert Mueller
David Jackson and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY Published 4:05 p.m. ET Aug. 8, 2017
WASHINGTON – President Trump has publicly called the widening federal investigation into Russia's election meddling a "witch hunt." But through his lawyer, Trump has sent private messages of "appreciation" to special counsel Robert Mueller.
"He appreciates what Bob Mueller is doing,'' Trump's chief counsel John Dowd told USA TODAY in an interview Tuesday. "He asked me to share that with him and that's what I've done.''
Trump's legal team has been in contact with Mueller's office, and Dowd says he has passed along the president's messages expressing “appreciation and greetings’’ to the special counsel.
“The president has sent messages back and forth,’’ Dowd said, declining to elaborate further.
Trump has come under fire for his prior contacts with former FBI Director James Comey, whom he abruptly fired in May because of his handling of the Russia matter. In a break with longstanding precedent to avoid even the appearance of influencing the nonpolitical law enforcement agency's investigations, Trump spoke privately with Comey on several occasions.
In those conversations, Comey said, Trump tried to convince him to drop parts of the Russia investigation and asked for a pledge of loyalty – accounts that not only led to the appointment of a special counsel, but also an expansion of the probe to include possible obstruction of justice.
more:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/08/08/donald-trump-exchanged-private-messages-special-counsel-mueller/547917001/
| 
