Updated June 15, 2017 14:37:25

Photo: Special counsel investigator Robert Mueller's team declined to comment on the report. (AP: Evan Vucci, file)

US President Donald Trump is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller for possible obstruction of justice, The Washington Post has reported.

Mr Mueller is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Former FBI director James Comey told Congress last week he believed he was fired by Mr Trump to undermine the agency's Russia probe.

The Washington Post, citing five people briefed on the requests who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, Mike Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency, and Richard Ledgett, the former deputy director at the NSA, had agreed to be interviewed by Mr Mueller's investigators as early as this week.

James Comey's conclusions and observations are based on instinct and an ingrained sense of protocol gained during a long career as a public servant, Washington correspondent Zoe Daniel writes.

The obstruction of justice investigation into Mr Trump began days after Mr Comey was fired on May 9, according to people familiar with the matter, The Washington Post said.

Mr Trump's legal team quickly denounced the report.

"The FBI leak of information regarding the President is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal," a spokesman for Mr Trump's legal team, Mark Corallo, said.

A spokesman for Mr Mueller's team declined to comment.

Several legal experts said Mr Comey's testimony last week — that Mr Trump expected loyalty and told Mr Comey he hoped he could drop an investigation of a former top aide — could bolster obstruction-of-justice allegations against the President.

Mr Comey would not say in his testimony last week whether he thought the President sought to obstruct justice, but added it would be up to special counsel Mr Mueller "to sort that out".

After Mr Comey's testimony, Mr Trump said he had been vindicated because his former FBI director confirmed telling Mr Trump on three occasions that he was not under investigation — The Washington Post report says that changed shortly after Mr Comey's firing.

While a sitting president is unlikely to face criminal prosecution, obstruction of justice could form the basis for impeachment.

Any such step would face a steep hurdle as it would require approval by the US House of Representatives, which is controlled by Mr Trump's fellow Republicans.

Reuters

Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, law-crime-and-justice, united-states

First posted June 15, 2017 09:57:32