President Donald Trump’s lawyer said Sunday that the President is not under investigation for possible obstruction of justice — despite Trump seemingly confirming that he was in a tweet earlier in the week.
Lawyer Jay Sekulow, a member of Trump’s legal team, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday morning he has received “no notification” of an investigation into the President.
“Let me be clear here,” he said. “The president is not and has not been under investigation for obstruction.”
But on Friday, Trump appeared to confirm a report in the Washington Post revealing that he was under investigation for possible obstruction of justice as part of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sekulow said Trump’s tweet was a reaction to the story — not an actual investigation.
“The President issued that tweet on social media because of the report in the Washington Post from five anonymous sources none of which, of course, anyone knows about, alleging that the President was under investigation in this purported expanded probe,” Sekulow said.
“So the response there is clear and I want be really clear about this,” he added. “The president is not and has not been under investigation.”
Citing five unnamed officials, the Post reported last week that Special Counsel Robert Mueller expanded his investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election to include the President, too. A spokesman for another member of Trump’s legal team, attorney Marc Kasowitz, questioned the legality of leaked information in an interview with TIME, but did not deny the report like Sekulow has.
Trump is under investigation for possible obstruction of justice — which is defined as intentionally tampering with or intervening an investigation for corrupt purposes, according to the report. During his testimony in front of Congress earlier this month, former FBI Director James Comey said he believes Trump fired him for his handling of the investigation into Russian interference, and said the President had asked him to stop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Though Comey could not say himself whether he thought Trump’s actions constituted an obstruction of justice, he said he was “sure” Mueller would look into it.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Donald Trump Is TIME's 2024 Person of the Year
- Why We Chose Trump as Person of the Year
- Is Intermittent Fasting Good or Bad for You?
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- The 20 Best Christmas TV Episodes
- Column: If Optimism Feels Ridiculous Now, Try Hope
- The Future of Climate Action Is Trade Policy
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Contact us at letters@time.com