High-ranking FBI officials could be called to testify against President Donald Trump in the probe into whether he engaged in obstruction of justice by trying to impede the FBI's Russia investigation, according to a new report.
After the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller in May, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe informed several senior FBI officials that they could be possible witnesses in any investigation into whether Trump committed obstruction of justice, Vox reported Thursday, citing two senior federal law enforcement officials.
McCabe also listed himself as a potential witness, according to the officials.
Mueller, a former FBI director, has been charged with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump campaign officials colluded with the Russian government in that effort. The special counsel later widened the probe to also include whether Trump engaged in obstruction of justice, particularly after reports emerged of the president's private conversations with former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired in May.
The two senior law enforcement officials told Vox that the potential case against the president is stronger than some observers believe.
"What you are going to have is the potential for a powerful obstruction case," one official said. "You are going to have the [former] FBI director testify, and then the acting director, the chief of staff to the FBI director, the FBI's general counsel, and then others, one right after another. This has never been the word of Trump against what [Comey] has had to say. This is more like the Federal Bureau of Investigation versus Donald Trump."
Among the potential witnesses are six of the highest-ranking FBI officials, including: McCabe; Jim Rybicki, Comey's chief of staff; James Baker, the general counsel of the FBI; David Bowdich, the FBI's associate director and third-highest official; and Carl Ghattas, head of the FBI's national security division.
According to Vox, law enforcement officials believe Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and a third Justice Department official are crucial fact witnesses in the obstruction probe.