Trump not under investigation, says lawyer

Washington, June 19 (IANS) One of Donald Trump's personal attorneys categorically denied that the President is under investigation for obstruction of justice, despite Twitter posts in which Trump apparently acknowledges it.

"The President is not under investigation by the special counsel," Jay Sekulow said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press".

"The President has not been and is not under investigation" for obstruction of justice, he added, referring to press reports saying that special counsel Robert Mueller is also investigating Trump, Efe news reported.

The Washington Post, citing anonymous sources, reported on Thursday that Mueller, who is investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 election and the contacts between Moscow and the Trump campaign team, had included in his probe the possibility that Trump could have attempted to obstruct justice.

After those reports, Trump himself had once again resorted to Twitter, where he posted an enigmatic message on Thursday in which he seemed to acknowledge that he was under investigation.

"I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt," Trump tweeted, referring to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who in early May had written a memo for Trump recommending that former FBI chief James Comey be fired.

Sekulow, however, emphasized that Trump was referring to the "fake" story in The Washington Post and denied that the tweet was an admission by the President that is being investigated.

Mueller was named as special counsel after Trump abruptly fired Comey, who up to his dismissal had been heading the Russia probe into Moscow's alleged interference in the US presidential election.