Has Robert Mueller Already Subpoenaed Donald Trump In Russia Probe? One Legal Expert Thinks So

Less than one week before the midterm elections, there is speculation that special counsel Robert Mueller may have already subpoenaed President Donald Trump.

According to a report from Politico Magazine on Tuesday, Mueller is preparing litigation against Trump behind closed doors “for the right to throw him in the grand jury.”

“What Trump knew and when he knew it, and what exactly motivated his statements and actions, are central to Mueller’s inquiry on both Russian interference and obstruction of justice,” wrote Nelson Cunningham, a former prosecutor and Senate and White House aide.

Cunningham points to a number of secret court filings in recent week in which a significant figure is fighting an attempt by the special counsel to subpoena him to appear before the Russia Grand Jury. The author asserts that only someone of the president’s stature would have been afforded the expedited legal review given in the case.

Last month, it was reported Mueller would likely release his conclusions on the Russia probe after the midterms. However, the FBI is now investigating allegations from several women who claim they were offered money to accuse the special counsel of sexual assault. One of the men who offered to pay one woman to make these accusations against Mueller is allegedly a Washington-area conservative talk show host named Jack Burkman who has pushed many conspiracy theories.

In August, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the president would move to oppose any subpoena. Giuliani claimed at the time that Trump’s team is “pretty much finished with our memorandum opposing a subpoena.” The former New York City mayor also said he believed Mueller’s investigation, which began in May 2017, would be over by September 1. Trump and his closest allies have repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia and have dismissed the probe as a “witch hunt.” The president has also routinely blasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself rom the inquiry early last year.

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Aside from probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election — and potential collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government — Mueller launched an inquiry into the president’s tweets earlier this year to determine if Trump obstructed justice.

Cunningham insists he believes the special counsel would likely try to subpoena Trump as discretely as possible, partly due to the quickly approaching date of the midterms.

Mueller has already indicted several Trump associates and Russian intelligence agents and other officials as part of his inquiry.

One of Trump’s lawyers has denied Mueller secretly subpoenaed the president.

“If Mueller were going to subpoena the president—and there’s every reason why a careful and thorough prosecutor would want the central figure on the record on critical questions regarding his knowledge and intent—this is just the way we would expect him to do so. Quietly, expeditiously, and refusing to waste the lull in public action demanded by the midterm elections,” Cunningham wrote. “It all fits.”

Cunningham served as a federal prosecutor under Giuliani in New York.