INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Authors: TheIndianSubcontinent News AgencyDonald Trump said the leak of the questions was "disgraceful" (File Photo)Washington/New York:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized the leak of more than 40 questions that Special Counsel Robert Mueller wants to ask him as part
of a probe into Russia's alleged election meddling and possible collusion by the Trump campaign.As negotiations continue over whether Trump
will sit for an interview, the New York Times obtained a lengthy list of questions Mueller and his team have prepared for the president."So
disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were 'leaked' to the media
No questions on Collusion," Trump wrote on Twitter
"It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened!"Mueller's investigators read the questions to Trump's lawyers
who compiled them into a list, the New York Times reported on Monday
The newspaper said it obtained the document from a person outside Trump's legal team.Trump's lawyers met with Mueller last week to discuss a
possible interview with the president, according to the Wall Street Journal, which also reported on the potential queries.Representatives
for the Mueller's office declined to comment and Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump, also had no comment
Reuters could not confirm the published accounts.Representatives for Robert Mueller's office declined to comment on the leakThe list of at
least four dozen questions includes ones on Trump's ties to Russia and others to determine whether the president may have unlawfully tried
to obstruct the investigation, the Times reported.Savannah Law School professor Andrew Wright, who served in President Barack Obama's White
House, said it was difficult to know who would have leaked the questions and why."It's hard for me to imagine it's coming from Mueller's
And it's kind of a ham-handed effort if it's someone who's trying to help the president," he said.Russia has denied interfering in the 2016
presidential election, as U.S
intelligence agencies allege, and Trump has denied there was any collusion between his campaign and Moscow.Most of the questions relate to
possible obstruction of justice, the reports said.While the questions do not explicitly cite "collusion," they do address what the president
knew about hacking by Russia, its use of social media and "other acts aimed at the campaign," the Times said.Manafort targets possible
leaks"What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the
campaign," one question asked, referring to Trump's former campaign manager, according to the Times.Manafort faces charges in two federal
courts that include conspiracy to launder money, failure to register as a foreign agent when he lobbied for the pro-Russia Ukraine
government, bank fraud and tax fraud.Late on Monday, Manafort's lawyers asked a federal judge in Virginia to hear arguments later this month
on whether prosecutors in Mueller's office may have leaked classified and other secret materials about the case to the media.On Friday,
Manafort's lawyers will ask the judge to dismiss the indictment in that court on the grounds that the scope of Mueller's probe is
excessive.Mueller's list also included inquiries about Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey, who headed the Russia
investigation before he was dismissed in May 2017, and the resignation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the Times
reported.Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during his interview as part of Mueller's probe.© Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for the
headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
