US President Donald Trump has acknowledged he is under investigation in a probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and possible collusion by his campaign - and seemed to assail the Justice Department official overseeing the inquiry.
Robert Mueller, the special counsel named by the department to investigate the Russia matter, is now examining whether Mr Trump or others sought to obstruct the probe, a person familiar with the inquiry said on Thursday.
"I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to his May 9 dismissal of James Comey.
Mr Trump did not identify "the man" but appeared to be questioning the integrity of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department's No 2 official who appointed Mr Mueller on May 17, supervises the probe and wrote a memo to Mr Trump critical of Mr Comey that preceded Mr Comey's firing.
Hours later, a source close to Mr Trump's outside legal team said Mr Trump did not intend his tweet to be confirmation of the investigation but rather was reacting to a Washington Post story on Wednesday about the probe. The source spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mr Rosenstein has said privately he may need to recuse himself from matters relating to the Russia probe because he could become a witness in the investigation, ABC News reported on Friday. ABC said Rosenstein told Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand she would have authority over the probe if he were to step aside.
The Democratic National Committee called on Mr Rosenstein to recuse himself from the Russia matter, but it said authority over the investigation should be given to Mr Mueller and not another Trump appointee.
While the Republican Trump administration initially said Mr Rosenstein's letter was the reason the president fired Mr Comey on May 9, Mr Trump later said he did so because of the "Russia thing".
Mr Comey told a Senate panel last week he believed Mr Trump fired him to undermine the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Russia probe. Mr Comey testified that Mr Trump directed him in February to drop an FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn relating to the Russia matter.
Mr Comey testified it would be up to Mr Mueller to decide whether Mr Trump's action amounted to obstruction of justice, an act that could be cited in any effort in the Republican-led Congress to impeach him and remove him from office.
A Trump confidant said this week the President had considered firing Mr Mueller. Rosenstein, who would be responsible for actually dismissing Mueller, told US lawmakers he would fire him only with good cause.
US intelligence agencies concluded in January that Russia interfered in the presidential race to try to help Mr Trump win, in part by hacking and releasing emails damaging to his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Moscow has denied any interference. The White House denies any collusion.
Mr Trump kept up his criticism of the investigations, writing on Twitter, "After 7 months of investigations & committee hearings about my 'collusion with the Russians,' nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad!"
Reuters
