Special counsel Robert Mueller is more deeply scrutinizing the communications of private military contractor Erik Prince, the Trump associate who made a trip to a remote island nation in the Indian Ocean last year to allegedly discuss setting up a secret back channel with the Kremlin. ABC News writes:
ABC News has since learned that Mueller is also reviewing Prince’s communications, a sign that Mueller could try to squeeze Prince, as he has others, probing potential inconsistencies in his sworn testimony in an attempt to pressure him to turn into a witness against other targets of the investigation. In response to questions from ABC News, a spokesperson for Prince released a statement noting that Prince has provided Mueller with “total access to his phones and computer.”
The spokesperson for Prince said he has "cooperated completely" with Mueller's probe and added, "Much of the reporting and speculation about Mr. Prince in the media is inaccurate, and we are confident that when the investigators have finished their work, we will be able to put these distractions to the side.”
However, Prince had claimed in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee last year that his meeting with Putin ally Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, was a total coincidence. "I didn't fly there to meet any Russian guy," Prince told the House panel last November, adding that they had just serendipitously ended up on the same remote island in the Seychelles.
But that's not the only trouble spot in Prince's testimony. He also told the panel he had "zero" business relationships with Russian nationals.
Two of Prince’s former business associates, both of whom asked to remain anonymous, told ABC News they have been contacted by investigators probing a pair of proposed business deals between the Hong Kong-based security firm Frontier Services Group, of which Prince is the founder and chairman, and Russian nationals.
If Mueller wants to put the screws to Prince, it sounds like he may have plenty of material to work with.