A former spokesman of President Donald Trump’s legal team plans to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that White House communications director Hope Hicks may have considered obstructing justice in relation to the Russia probe.
Mark Corallo is set to be interviewed by Meuller’s team within in the next two weeks, the New York Times reports.
Corallo had represented Trump’s outside lawyers amid the federal and congressional Russia inquiries until he resigned last summer, after revelations about a June 2016 meeting between Trump’s son Donald Jr and a group of Russians.
Meuller’s team plan to interview him about the circumstances of his departure as they zero in on the initial response given by Trump’s son in relation to the controversial meeting, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
Trump’s former legal team lawyer plans to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that White House communications director Hope Hicks may have considered obstructing justice in relation to the Russia probe, sources say
Corallo’s departure in July came amid media reports that Trump’s legal team was reorganizing and considering ways to limit Mueller’s probe.
One of the main reasons Corallo decided to leave was his refusal to criticize the integrity of Mueller, the source, who had direct knowledge of the matter, told Reuters.
Corallo was also deeply disturbed by what he viewed as a false statement dictated by the president from Air Force One about his son’s Trump Tower meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and her associates, the source said.
The Russians had promised Trump Jr damaging information on Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton.
Sources say Corallo plans to tell Mueller about a conference call last July that took place as Hicks, Trump and other advisers were drafting a statement on board Air Force One about the Trump Tower meeting.
Robert Mueller’s (left) team plan to interview Mark Corallo (right) about the circumstances of his departure from Trump’s team last summer
Hicks told the president that emails written by Trump Jr in relation to a Trump Tower meeting with Russians ‘would never get out’, according to sources familiar with the matter
Citing three people with knowledge of the interview request, the Times said Corallo was concerned about the possibility Hicks could have been planning to obstruct justice.
Sources say Corallo had told Trump and Hicks that the statement would backfire because documents would eventually surface that proved the meeting had been set up to get dirt on Clinton.
Hicks told the president that emails written by Trump Jr ‘would never get out’ because only a few people had access, according to Corallo’s account.
A lawyer for Hicks strongly denied Corallo’s allegations.
‘She never said that. And the idea that Hope Hicks ever suggested that emails or other documents would be concealed or destroyed is completely false,’ Robert Trout told Reuters in an email.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Don Jr. issued an initial statement last July saying the meeting, held in Trump Tower in 2016, was set up to discuss a Russian adoption policy.
He later released a set of pre-meeting emails in which he expressed interest in meeting with the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, in order to obtain what he was told would be damaging information on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
‘If it’s what you say I love it, especially later in the summer,’ he wrote.
According to the Times report, prosecutors working for Mueller ‘have questioned numerous White House officials about how the release came together – and about how directly Trump oversaw the process.’