Robert Mueller plans to conclude Trump obstruction of justice probe 'by September', Rudy Giuliani claims

Rudy Giuliani had formerly claimed Robert Mueller has concluded he lacks the power to indict Donald Trump

Former New York mayor and Trump campaign surrogate Rudy Giuliani recently joined the president's legal team (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)

Special counsel Robert Mueller hopes to have concluded his inquiry into whether Donald Trump obstructed justice by early September, according to the president’s attorney.

Rudy Giuliani, who recently joined the president’s legal team, told the New York Times that Mr Mueller had relayed that timeline to him. He described it as an effort by Mr Mueller to ensure the results did not influence November midterm elections.

“You don’t want another repeat of the 2016 election where you get contrary reports at the end and you don’t know how it affected the election”, Mr. Giuliani told the Times.

The special counsel’s team has been exploring questioning the president as it pursues an investigation of Russian election meddling and potential coordination between the Trump presidential campaign and the Kremlin.

While the probe has produced indictments of multiple former aides to Mr Trump, the president himself has steadfastly denied that collusion occurred. He has not been formally accused of wrongdoing.

But Mr Mueller’s team is said to be examining whether Mr Trump may have obstructed justice in his decision to fire former FBI director James Comey, which he linked to “this Russia thing”.

In an interview earlier this year, Mr Comey - who has emerged as a vocal antagonist of the president - said that there was “evidence” Mr Trump’s obstructed justice in suggesting to Mr Comey that he drop a probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Last week, Mr Giuliani said he had been informed that Mr Mueller’s team had concluded it cannot indict Mr Trump because of precedent that bars bringing charges against

The president's legal team has been wrong before in making pronouncements about Mr Mueller’s timeline. Former attorney Ty Cobb predicted last year that the investigation would be over by Thanksgiving.