'Trump aides seeking leverage, probe Mueller's investigators'

The search for potential conflicts is wide-ranging. It includes scrutinizing donations to Democratic candidates, investigators' past clients and Mueller's relationship with James B. Comey, whose firing as F.B.I. director is part of the special counsel's investigation.

The effort to investigate the investigators is another sign of a looming showdown between Trump and Mueller, who has assembled a team of high-powered prosecutors and agents to examine whether any of Trump's advisers aided Russia's campaign to disrupt last year's presidential election.

Some of the investigators have vast experience prosecuting financial malfeasance, and the prospect that Mueller's inquiry could evolve into an expansive examination of Trump's financial history has stoked fears among the president's aides. Both Trump and his aides have said publicly they are watching closely to ensure Mueller's investigation remains narrowly focused on last year's election.

During an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, Trump said he was aware that members of Mueller's team had potential conflicts of interest and would make the information available "at some point."

Trump also said Mueller would be going outside his mandate if he begins investigating matters unrelated to Russia, like the president's personal finances. Trump repeatedly declined to say what he might do if Mueller appeared to exceed that mandate. But his comments to The Times represented a clear message to Mueller.

"The president's making clear that the special counsel should not move outside the scope of the investigation," Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokeswoman, said during a news briefing on Thursday.

Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the special counsel, declined to comment.

For weeks, Republicans have publicly identified what they see as potential conflicts among Mueller's team of more than a dozen investigators. In particular, they have cited thousands of dollars of political donations to Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, made by Andrew Weissmann, a former senior Justice Department official who has expertise in fraud and other financial crimes. News reports have revealed similar donations by other members of Mueller's team, which Trump's allies have cited as evidence of political bias. Another lawyer Mueller has hired, Jeannie Rhee, represented the Clinton Foundation.

To seek a recusal, Trump's lawyers can argue their case to Mueller or his boss, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. The Justice Department has explicit rules about what constitutes a conflict of interest. Prosecutors may not participate in investigations if they have "a personal or political relationship" with the subject of the case. Making campaign donations is not included on the list of things that would create a "political relationship."

The examination of Mueller's investigators reflects deep concerns among the president's aides that Mueller will mount a wide-ranging investigation in the mold of the inquiry conducted by the independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr during the 1990s. By building files on Mueller's team, the Trump administration is following in the footsteps of the Clinton White House, which openly challenged Starr and criticized what Clinton's aides saw as a political witch hunt. AGENCIES