U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed the company founded by President Donald Trump for documents, including some related to Russia, media are reporting.
The reports from the New York Times, the Associated Press, and other media on March 15, citing sources knowledgeable about the matter, were the first to say Mueller is demanding materials directly related to Trump's businesses as part of his investigation into connections between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
Mueller may be targeting documents related to Trump Organization proposals to build a Trump Tower skyscraper in Moscow in 2015, the reports said.
The Trump Organization, which Trump ran with his family before he entered the White House, is an umbrella company including global real estate, hotel, and golf-course properties.
The Trump Organization played down the significance of being subpoenaed, saying it was "old news." A lawyer said on March 15 that the company has told the public since July that it is cooperating with Mueller's investigation.
Reports of the subpoenas contributed to a fall in stocks on Wall Street on March 15.
The reports come as Mueller has appeared to be broadening his investigation to include the influence that foreign money may have played on Trump's political activities.
Trump has warned Mueller against stepping beyond the original scope of his investigation and zeroing in on the Trump family's business transactions.
Last year, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that the Kremlin had received an e-mail in January 2016 from the Trump Organization's chief counsel at the time, Michael Cohen, asking for support for the Trump Tower project in Moscow.
The e-mail was never passed to Putin, the spokesman said, and the project never materialized.