Trump investigations

January 15, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

A look at where the investigations related to Trump stand:

WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT?

Trump is facing criminal investigations in Washington and New York.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia and whether the president obstructed the investigation. Trump also plays a central role in a separate case in New York, where prosecutors have implicated him in a crime. They say Trump directed his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to make illegal hush-money payments to two women as a way to quash potential sex scandals during the campaign.

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW TODAY?

Trump on Monday denied he ever worked for Russia against U.S. interests, addressing an extraordinary question that has haunted his presidency and shows no sign of going away.

Speaking from the South Lawn, Trump issued a flat denial: “I never worked for Russia.”

Trump raised eyebrows over the weekend when he didn’t directly answer the Russia question in an interview with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro.

SO ... DID THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN COLLUDE WITH RUSSIA?

There is no smoking gun when it comes to the question of Russia collusion. But the evidence so far shows a broad range of Trump associates had Russia-related contacts during the 2016 presidential campaign and transition period, and several lied about the communication.

There is also evidence that some people in the president’s orbit were discussing a possible email dump from WikiLeaks before it occurred. American intelligence agencies and Mueller have said Russia was the source of hacked material released by WikiLeaks during the campaign that was damaging to Hillary Clinton’s presidential effort.