President Donald Trump twice has complained to Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker after federal prosecutors have mentioned him in reference to crimes his former lawyer Michael Cohen has pleaded guilty to, CNN reported.
CNN, quoting "multiple" unnamed sources, said that Trump did not tell Whitaker to end the investigation, but only expressed his anger that the reports made him look bad.
The first instance reportedly occurred after Cohen pleaded guilty on November 29 to lying to Congress about a planned Trump Tower project in Moscow.
A little more than a week later, prosecutors in New York said that Trump had directed Cohen to make hush money payments to women during the 2016 presidential campaign.
According to CNN, Trump suggested the New York prosecutors had gone rogue and asked Whitaker why more wasn't being done to control them.
CNN said one of its sources disputed that the there was and tension between the president and Whitaker over the Cohen probe, adding that the two have a "great relationship."
Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani did not confirm the talks between Trump and Whitaker to CNN, but told the network: "The president and his lawyers are upset about the professional prosecutors in the Southern District of New York going after a non-crime and the innuendo the president was involved."