WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller told President Donald Trump’s lawyers in a letter Friday that he will accept written answers from Trump to questions about whether his campaign coordinated with Russia to tilt the 2016 election in his favor, according to two people briefed on the communication.
Mueller did not rule out interviewing the president as part of his wide-ranging inquiry. His Friday letter indicated that he may revisit his long-running request to pose questions to Trump directly about Russia’s activities during the campaign after reviewing his answers.
And the special counsel left open the possibility that he may still try to press Trump in person about a second piece of his investigation: whether the president has sought to block the probe since taking office.
On potential obstruction of justice issues, “he said he’d assess it down the road,” said one person familiar with Mueller’s letter who requested anonymity to discuss private communications. “They’re essentially saying, ‘We’ll deal with this at a later date.’ ”
