Special Counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for documents pertaining to Russia, the New York Times reports.
It marks the first time that Mueller’s team has requested documents from Trump’s private businesses as a part of its investigation, and may indicate that the special counsel is looking into any flow of foreign money to the Trump campaign.
The Trump Organization stated that it has never owned any real estate in Russia, but Mueller recently questioned witnesses about talk of a Moscow Trump Tower. Trump reportedly considered the project in 2015, even signing a letter of intent to go through with it.
The president warned Mueller in July about crossing a “red line” by prying into aspects of his family finances that he claims have nothing to do with Russia.
Mueller’s office and Trump’s lawyers have discussed possibly interviewing the president at some point, and investigators have suggested discussion topics.
The subpoena suggests that the investigation into Russian election meddling and the possibility of collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign will continue for the foreseeable future, and could signal a greater likelihood that Trump will be interviewed by investigators eventually.
Update 5:35pm:
The Trump Organization downplayed the highly publicized subpoena, calling it “old news.”
“Since July 2017, we have advised the public that the Trump Organization is fully cooperative with all investigations, including the Special Counsel, and is responding to their requests,” said Trump Organization lawyer Alan Futerfas in a statement. “This is old news and our assistance and cooperation with the various investigations remains the same today.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the administration will “continue to cooperate with the office of the special counsel.”