Donald Trump has quizzed at least two associates about what they discussed with Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian influence on his 2016 presidential campaign and administration.

The two, White House counsel Donald F. McGahn and former chief of staff Reince Priebus, are considered key witnesses in the probe.  The episodes show that the orange clown is ignoring advice from his lawyers to avoid doing things that give the appearance he is interfering in the investigation.

The first instance has Trump ordering McGahn to issue a statement denying a report that Trump once asked him to fire the special counsel Robert Mueller; McGahn refused and reminded Trump that he did indeed make that request.  In the second, Trump grilled Reince Priebus about how his interview had gone with the special counsel's investigators and whether they had been "nice", trying to get an indication of the direction of Mueller's investigation.

Some legal analysts believe the contacts do not meet the threshold of witness tampering.  But witness and lawyers who learned of Trump's actions have reported them to Robert Mueller, whose investigation includes examining whether Trump tried to obstruct the inquiry.