Trump asked the White House counsel to help convince Comey to publicly exonerate him

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President Donald Trump reportedly told White House counsel Don McGahn to call the Justice Department and ask a senior official to persuade then-FBI director James Comey to publicly exonerate Trump in the Russia probe.

The revelation adds another piece of evidence to the obstruction-of-justice case special counsel Robert Mueller is building against the president.

McGahn is also emerging as an increasingly critical witness in Mueller's investigation.

President Donald Trump asked the White House counsel, Donald McGahn, to call the Department of Justice last year and ask a senior official to persuade then-FBI director James Comey to publicly clear the president of wrongdoing in the Russia probe, The Washington Post reported.

McGahn subsequently called then-Deputy Acting Attorney General Dana Boente last April and asked him to convince Comey to exonerate Trump, but the request fell on deaf ears, according to The Post. Boente is now the FBI general counsel. See the rest of the story at Business InsiderNOW WATCH: How to make America great according to one of the three cofounders of Black Lives MatterSee Also:A court might hand Mueller a new asset in his quest to get Trump to testifyRepublicans set their sights on a familiar target as they investigate the FBI and Obama administrationTop House Intelligence Committee Democrat says he won't make changes to Nunes rebuttal memoSEE ALSO: Trump's legal team is stonewalling Mueller as he closes in on the White House

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