Explainer: what does Robert Mueller’s list of 49 questions mean for Donald Trump’s presidency?

Despite Trump’s dismissal of the idea, the list does appear to indicate that Mueller is looking into possible collusion or coordination with Russia during the election campaign

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Special counsel Robert Mueller. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:18pm, 2 May 2018Updated: 8:36pm, 2 May 2018

US President Donald Trump angrily protested a leaked list of questions that Robert Mueller, the Justice Department’s special counsel, may want to ask him, while at the same time contending the list shows anew there was no crime or collusion with the Russians by his presidential campaign. But the questions suggest investigators want to focus on collusion and obstruction of justice.

The questions, some 49 in all, were published by The New York Times, which said they were compiled by Trump’s lawyers during negotiations with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators over a possible interview with the president himself. The Times said it got the list from someone “outside Mr Trump’s legal team”. , though, reported on Tuesday that the list was written by Jay Sekulow, on of Trump’s lawyers.

A person familiar with the matter, who insisted on anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said Trump’s lawyers extrapolated a list of expected questions based on conversations with Mueller’s team. The questions contained in a document posted online by the Times on Monday night reflected questions that defence lawyers anticipated rather than verbatim queries that Mueller’s team provided, the person said.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the list was written by Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s lawyers.

Despite the suggestion that the list may have been leaked by one of his lawyers, Trump wrote on Twitter that the leak was “so disgraceful”.

“No questions on Collusion,” he continued. That’s the idea that his presidential campaign collaborated with Russians who were trying to help him to the Oval Office. As for obstruction of the investigation after he took office, he scoffed: “It would be very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened!”