President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he "would like to" testify before the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, when asked at The White House, reported AP.
Trump’s comments come shortly after his lead lawyer for the investigation resigned on Thursday, the New York Times reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
John Dowd’s resignation comes at a time of what seems to be a shake-up of the President’s legal team, the AP report adds.
Dowd stepped down after concluding Trump was increasingly ignoring his advice, one of the people told The Times.
Dowd has been the lead lawyer since last summer, when longtime Trump personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz stepped down, but the latest shakeup to the legal team has been rumoured for several days.
Earlier this week, Trump beefed up his legal team with a lawyer who accuses the FBI and US Justice Department of trying to frame Trump with false charges of colluding with Russia during the 2016 election campaign, possibly signaling a more aggressive drive to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Washington lawyer Joseph diGenova will join the legal team this week, according to attorney Jay Sekulow, who also represents Trump.
Last week, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters that veteran Washington lawyer Emmet Flood is under consideration for a White House job assisting Trump with the Russia probe.
According to AP, Mueller is looking into contacts between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia and Russian meddling in the presidential election. While Moscow has denied any interference in the elections, Trump has said that there was no collusion.
(With inputs from Reuters and AP)
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