Even with Trump warning, Mueller likely to probe finances

U.S. President Donald Trump's growing anxiety about the federal Russia probe has spilled into public view with his warning that special counsel Robert Mueller would be out of bounds if he dug into the Trump family's finances. But that's a line that Mueller seems sure to cross.

Several of Trump's family members and close advisers have already become ensnared in the investigations, including son Donald Trump Jr. and son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner. Probing the family's sprawling business ties would bring an investigation the president has called a partisan "witch hunt" even closer to the Oval Office.

Trump told The New York Times it would be a "violation" of Mueller's formal charge if he looked into the president's personal finances.

That comment came amid news reports that the special counsel is interested in Trump's business transactions with Russians and with one of his main lenders, Deutsche Bank.

Trump's legal team is evaluating potential conflicts of interest among members of Mueller's investigative team, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, The Associated Press reported. The revelation comes as Mueller's probe into Russia's election meddling appears likely to include some of the Trump family's business ties.

Attorney Jay Sekulow, a member of the president's external legal team, told the agency on july 20 that the lawyers "will consistently evaluate the issue of conflicts and raise them in the appropriate venue."

In the same interview with the Times, Trump also lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions; James Comey, the FBI director he fired; Andrew McCabe, the acting FBI director who replaced Comey, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed the...