President Donald Trump acknowledged on Friday that he is personally under investigation as part of a widening probe into alleged Russian meddling in last year's US presidential race and possible collusion by his campaign, an inquiry that has cast a shadow over his five months in office.
Trump did not specify who he was referring to, but he appeared to mean Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the No 2 official at the US Justice Department. Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller on 17 May as special counsel to head the inquiry into the Russia matter.
Rosenstein was also the author of a letter in May to Trump criticising the performance of FBI Director James Comey. While the Trump administration initially said that letter was the reason the President fired Comey on 9 May, Trump later said he did so because of the "Russia thing."
Comey told a Senate panel last week he believed Trump fired him because of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Russia probe. Comey also testified Trump had directed him to drop a related FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
A person familiar with Mueller's inquiry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday Mueller was looking into whether Trump or others attempted to obstruct the Russia investigation.
The Republican president has repeatedly complained about the probe, calling it a witch hunt and saying Democrats cannot accept his election victory. But he had said last week he felt vindicated by Comey's testimony on 8 June, that he was not the subject of investigation while Comey was heading the agency. Several congressional committees are also investigating the Russia matter.
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