The investigation into links between Donald Trump’s advisers and Russia escalated last night with the establishment of a grand jury that will decide if criminal charges should be brought.
It has issued subpoenas demanding information about a meeting between President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr, and a Kremlin-linked lawyer.
The jury was set up at the request of Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who is leading the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election. Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing and dismissed the inquiry as a “witch-hunt”.
The grand jury is a powerful tool that will allow Mr Mueller to demand documents and to question witnesses. A grand jury of 23 ordinary citizens typically hears evidence from prosecutors in secret and evaluates whether there are grounds for a criminal charge. It is the first time since Bill Clinton in 1998 that a president has faced such an investigation.
A spokesman for Mr Mueller declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story last night. Ty Cobb, the president’s lawyer, said that he was not aware of the grand jury. “Grand jury matters are typically secret,” he said. “The White House favours anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly . . . The White House is committed to fully co-operating with Mr Mueller.”
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The jury has demanded information about the meeting last June between Mr Trump Jr and Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. Mr Trump Jr agreed to the meeting after being told that Russia was willing to share damaging information on Hillary Clinton, his father’s Democratic opponent. No such information appears to have been forthcoming.
CNN reported that Mr Mueller’s team was also investigating business dealings unconnected to the election. Mr Trump warned Mr Mueller last month that the special prosecutor would cross a line if he delved into elements of the Trump business empire unrelated to Russia.
At a campaign-style rally in West Virginia last night, Mr Trump said that “the Russia story is total fabrication”. He added: “Most people know there were no Russians in our campaign. There never were.”
In front of a raucous crowd at a 9,000-capacity arena he took aim at the Democrats, suggesting a conspiracy was at play to remove him from power.
“They can’t beat us at the voting booths so they’re trying to cheat you out of the future and the future that you want,” he said. “They’re trying to cheat you out of the leadership that you want with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us and most importantly demeaning to our country and demeaning to our constitution.”
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As he claimed that prosecutors should instead by investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails, chants of “lock her up” echoed around the arena.
