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Special Counsel Spokesman: Mueller Never Drafted Indictment of Trump

Robert Mueller
Robert Mueller / Getty Images
May 28, 2019

A spokesman for Special Counsel Robert Mueller has denied a claim in Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff's new book that says Mueller drafted an indictment of President Donald Trump during his Russia investigation.

According to an early copy of the book, titled Siege: Trump Under Fire, obtained by the Guardian, Wolff writes that Mueller drew up an indictment of Trump that named three counts of obstruction of justice. The document sat on Mueller's desk for a full year before the Special Counsel decided not to press the issue, Wolff writes. Wolff claims his findings are "based on internal documents given to me by sources close to the Office of the Special Counsel."

Mueller's spokesman Peter Carr, flatly denied the claim, telling the Guardian: "The documents that you've described do not exist."

Wolff's book is set for release on June 4, and the draft indictment is one of its central set pieces, the Guardian reports.

According to Wolff, the draft indictment is a comprehensive outline of Trump's misdeeds, which "began on the seventh day of his administration, tracing the line of obstruction from National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's lies to the FBI about his contacts with Russian representative[s], to the president's efforts to have [FBI director] James Comey protect Flynn, to Comey's firing, to the president's efforts to interfere with the special counsel's investigation, to his attempt to cover up his son and son-in-law's meeting with Russian governmental agents, to his moves to interfere with Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe's testimony …"

Wolff also alleges that Mueller deliberated for a long time over whether he ought to charge the president, and worried what to do should Trump attempt to fire him or then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Wolff writes that Mueller eventually decided not to file an indictment, as his team secured plea deals from many Trump associates, notably former attorney Michael Cohen, David Pecker of American Media, and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.

Following these deals, Trump said, "the Jews always flip," according to Wolff.

The Department of Justice released Mueller's full redacted report in mid-April, and the document does not mention whether or not Mueller deliberated over whether or not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice.