Trump and Putin, behind the scenes

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That letter could become quite important..

News on Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller has obtained a letter drafted by President Donald Trump that details his reasons for firing then-FBI director James Comey has likely bolstered the progress of the Russia investigation, and may have landed another close Trump confidant in its crosshairs. Mueller was put in charge of the investigation — which is examining whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow during last year's presidential election — after Trump dismissed Comey in May. As part of his investigation, Mueller is also examining whether Trump obstructed justice when he fired the FBI director four months ago. 

The letter Mueller is reviewing was drafted by Trump along with policy adviser Stephen Miller, and legal experts say it is possibly the most critical piece of evidence in Mueller's obstruction-of-justice case since Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June, because it can give prosecutors a direct window into Trump's thinking shortly before he fired Comey. The biggest challenge a prosecutor faces in an obstruction-of-justice case is proving corrupt intent, which is almost always difficult to establish. But Trump's letter could change the ballgame. 

"The best way to prove someone's intent is through their own words and actions," former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti told Business Insider in an interview Saturday. "Here, you have a letter that was written by Miller, at the direction of the president, that contains what the president's thoughts were at that time." Though the letter's full contents remain unclear, The Washington Post reported that it focused on what was perhaps Trump's greatest frustration with Comey: that the FBI director did not publicly announce, when he was leading the bureau's investigation, that Trump was not personally under investigation.

Stephen Miller may be in the crosshairs of Mueller's Russia probe - Business Insider