Dozens Of Special Counsel Questions LEAKED To The Media

The saga continues.

Mueller’s team sent President Trump’s lawyers dozens of questions, and somehow, the New York Times got its grubby hands all over them.

The open-ended queries appear to be an attempt to penetrate the president’s thinking, to get at the motivation behind some of his most combative Twitter posts and to examine his relationships with his family and his closest advisers. They deal chiefly with the president’s high-profile firings of the F.B.I. director and his first national security adviser, his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.

But they also touch on the president’s businesses; any discussions with his longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, about a Moscow real estate deal; whether the president knew of any attempt by Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to set up a back channel to Russia during the transition; any contacts he had with Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser who claimed to have inside information about Democratic email hackings; and what happened during Mr. Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant.

Those questions include:

• “What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?”
• “What was your reaction to news reports on Jan. 12, 2017, and Feb. 8-9, 2017?”

Hold up– Why does his reaction matter?

• “What did you think and what did you do in reaction to the news of the appointment of the special counsel?”

Again…WTH? Why does Mueller care about Trump’s reaction to his appointment? What’s he going to get out of that one? Is he just curious?

• “What did you think and do in reaction to the news that the special counsel was speaking to Mr. Rogers, Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Coats?”
• “Did you discuss whether Mr. Sessions would protect you, and reference past attorneys general?”
• “What discussions did you have regarding terminating the special counsel, and what did you do when that consideration was reported in January 2018?”
• “What was your opinion of Mr. Comey during the transition?”
• “What was the purpose of your May 12, 2017, tweet?”

Here’s the tweet that question is referring to:

James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017

• “What is the reason for your continued criticism of Mr. Comey and his former deputy, Andrew G. McCabe?”

And so on. You can read all the questions here.

President Trump has responded to this leak on Twitter.

So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were “leaked” to the media. 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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2018

It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2018

This investigation is NEVER going to end. Ugh. Such a waste of time and money.