On the same day President Donald Trump appeared to issue a warning to Special Counsel Robert Mueller to stay out of his family finances, the special counsel leading the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s election appears to be doing the opposite.
Bloomberg reported Thursday morning that Mueller is examining “a broad range of transactions involving Trump’s businesses as well as those of his associates.”
The revelation comes on the heels of a New York Times interview with Trump, in which the president left open the possibility of firing Mueller and, when asked if a look at the Trump family’s finances beyond any relationship with Russia would cross a red line, replied, “I would say yes, I think that’s a violation.”
Mueller and other investigators are reportedly looking at—among other things—the purchase of apartments in Trump buildings by Russian interests, the involvement of Russian associates in a controversial development, and the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Moscow.
John Dowd, one of Trump’s lawyers, told Bloomberg he was unaware of that part of the investigation and believed it was “well beyond the mandate of the special counsel.”