Lawyer says Trump not under investigation, despite president's tweet otherwise

Two days after the Post story ran, and with no official confirmation from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, himself a former FBI director who is now overseeing the Russian Federation investigation and, according to reports, the investigation into Trump's possible obstruction, Trump issued the following statement via his Twitter account.

On Friday morning, Trump sent a tweet that seemed to confirm that he was under scrutiny, writing, "I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director!" He said Trump's tweet was not a confirmation of the investigation, but instead a response to a report in The Washington Post. "Witch Hunt." Pressed by TV interviewers, Sekulow declared that Trump was not being investigated, then tried to walk that back, at least slightly, saying there had been no such notification. In fact, to the contrary. First, White House staffers spend 24 hours denying Trump was under investigation.

Prosecutors sometimes, but not always, notify individuals through their attorneys that they are targets of an investigation and are at risk of being charged.

On Twitter again Sunday, Trump said, "The Make America Great Again agenda is doing very well despite the distraction of the witch hunt".

Were Trump to go through with it anyway, it would be the most politically self-destructive act of his young presidency.

But White House officials worry that Trump may fire Rosenstein and Mueller, a move that aides are actively against as it could be unconstitutional.

Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, said the president was only referring to a news report.

Earlier in the week, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, a close friend of Trump's, claimed that the president was considering ordering Rosenstein to fire Mueller. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., noted that "one thing we've learned from the testimony of multiple people now is the president is pretty fired up about this" and doesn't believe that he did anything wrong.

Most Republicans were happy to see Mueller take over the investigation after Comey was sacked because it allowed them to redirect politically fraught questions about Russian Federation to the special counsel's office. "Mueller's going to do his job". Press secretary Sean Spicer denied it was a travel "ban"; Trump tweeted it was a ban. "This is not taking up the president of the United States's day".

Meanwhile, it is no secret that there are both Senate and House committees that are investigating the President. "They're essentially engaging in a scorched-earth litigation strategy that is beginning with trying to discredit the prosecutor".

James Comey, left, testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on July 8, 2015. The department said last month that under professional responsibility rules, Mueller may participate in matters involving his former firm's clients as long as he wasn't involved in representing them and has no confidential information about them.

Comey made the existence of this investigation public in a March hearing before the House intelligence committee. He added: "A lot of people have said, 'When do you think you'll be done?' Maybe the end of the year".

President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser may be getting new legal representation as the special counsel investigation into Russia's election meddling heats up.