Mueller to interview Spicer and Priebus as special counsel probe targets Trump's inner circle: report

Special counsel Robert Mueller has set his sights on six current and former Donald Trump advisers in his ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the Washington Post reports.

The special counsel is planning to interview interim White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, former Press Secretary Sean Spicer, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House Counsel and Assistant to the President Don McGahn, McGahn’s deputy James Burnham and White House spokesman Josh Raffel as part of the probe, according to a list Mueller’s team sent the White House several weeks ago.

Raffel was one of the Trump aides involved in crafting a misleading response to the now-infamous meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer, which was attended by several members of the campaign, including top Trump aide and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

As the Post notes, McGahn and Burnham were both approached by former acting Attorney General Sally Yates—whom Trump fired after she refused to defend his travel ban barring visitors from seven predominantly Muslim counties—about the possibility that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn may be compromised by the Russians after he allegedly lied to Vice President Mike Flynn about the nature of his conversation with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Considering their proximity to Trump during the start of his young presidency, Priebus, Spicer and Hicks were directly or indirectly involved in many of the incidents Mueller is reportedly investigation. It is likely Mueller will also seek to interview Kushner, the Post reports.