New Book Makes Big Mueller Assertion

Michael Wolff made big waves with his first book on the Trump presidency, Fire and Fury. Now the Guardian has gotten an early look at the sequel by Wolff (a co-founder of Newser), and it contains a doozy of an assertion: In Siege: Trump Under Fire, Wolff writes that Robert Mueller drew up an obstruction-of-justice indictment against the president before ultimately deciding not to follow through. Already, a representative from Mueller's team is strongly denying it. Wolff writes that his scoop is "based on internal documents given to me by sources close to the Office of the Special Counsel."

The response from Mueller spokesman Richard Carr? "The documents described do not exist." CNBC notes that Carr typically avoids comment on news reports and calls his response "unusually blunt and direct." The book, out June 4, alleges that the draft indictment specified three counts against Trump: corruptly influencing or obstructing a pending investigation; tampering with a witness, victim, or information; and retaliating against a witness, victim, or information. But in the end, Mueller "threw up his hands" instead of attempting to prosecute a sitting president, writes Wolff. (Trump described Fire and Fury as a "Fake Book" and Wolff himself as "discredited.")