Trump Hits at `Leaked' Mueller Questions, Says Collusion `Phony'

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump assailed as "disgraceful leaks" the publication by the New York Times of four-dozen questions that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is said to want to ask the president concerning Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election and his own actions in response to the probe.

"So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked' to the media," Trump said in a Twitter posting Tuesday. "No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see...you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!"

Mueller's queries are far-ranging and designed both to determine Trump's ties to Russia as well as whether he obstructed the inquiry itself, the Times reported. The questions offer a rare detailed glimpse inside Mueller's investigation, but their origin is unclear.

The newspaper describes the inquiries as having been “read by the special counsel investigators to the president's lawyers, who compiled them into a list.” It also reported that the document “was provided to the Times by a person outside Trump's legal team.”

The questions focus on Trump's firings of former FBI director James Comey and his first national security adviser Michael Flynn, along with the president's treatment of and tweets regarding Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Other queries concern:

• a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians offering damaging information about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton;
• what Trump knew of efforts by his team to establish back-channel communications with Russia before the inauguration;
• and Trump's private business dealings in Russia.

The newspaper also says the list contains questions about any discussions Trump had about possibly pardoning Flynn or firing Mueller himself.

“It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened!” Trump said in a later tweet. “Witch Hunt!”

To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Washington at tdopp@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Derek Wallbank at dwallbank@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman, Kathleen Hunter

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