President Donald Trump’s team of lawyers are looking at ways to limit and discredit the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into whether his campaign worked with Russia during the 2016 election. Further, Trump has begun asked about his ability to pardon people, including himself, according to numerous reports.
Trump’s lawyers and aides are looking into the backgrounds of investigators hired by Mueller in an effort to find conflicts of interest they could use to discredit them and the ongoing investigation, the New York Times reports.
Meanwhile, Trump has asked advisers about the scope of his ability to pardon people as president— including family members and even himself—should the probe find evidence of wrongdoing, the Washington Post reported.
The effort to discredit the special counsel and the integrity of his work comes as the probe continues to widen.
On Thursday, Bloomberg and the Times reported that Mueller has expanded the investigation into Trump’s private business dealings—a notion that Trump didn’t seem keen on.
During a wide-ranging and oftentimes bizarre interview with the New York Times on Wednesday, Trump insisted that his personal business and financial information should be off limits to Mueller but stopped short of saying he would fire the special prosecutor if he did look into his financials.
With the federal probe spreading into other areas of the president’s past, Trump’s team is honing in on potential evidence of conflicts of interest, which could give the Justice Department grounds to remove Mueller from the job.
“The fact is that the president is concerned about conflicts that exist within the special counsel’s office and any changes in the scope of the investigation,” Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s lawyers, told the Post. “The scope is going to have to stay within his mandate. If there’s drifting, we’re going to object.”
However, the Times reports that Trump’s advisers are “split” on how far to challenge Mueller, believing that it could create a “legal and political mess.”
