White House press secretary Sarah Sanders interviewed in Russia probe

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has been questioned by the special counsel investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Ms Sanders said Donald Trump had urged her and other administration staff to "fully co-operate with the special counsel" so she was "happy to voluntarily sit down" with investigators.

US intelligence agencies believe Moscow interfered in the 2016 election in an effort to tip it to Republican Donald Trump and away from his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating the allegations and whether anyone in the president's campaign may have colluded with Russia.

:: The Mueller probe: What is it all about and who's being investigated?

He is also looking into whether Mr Trump may have tried to obstruct the investigation.

Moscow has vehemently denied interfering in the campaign and Mr Trump has dubbed the Mueller investigation a "witch hunt".

A judge ruled earlier this week that Mr Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort intentionally lied to investigators and a jury.

It was found he misled the FBI, prosecutors and a federal grand jury about his involvement with Konstantin Kilimnik, who the FBI say is linked to Russian intelligence.

In December, the president's former lawyer Michael Cohen was jailed for lying to Congress over hush money payments made to two women who allege they had affairs with Mr Trump.

The Mueller probe has so far resulted in a number of criminal charges against individuals and Russian companies.

They include charges of conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct justice, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, bank fraud, obstruction of justice, aggravated identity theft, failure to report foreign bank accounts, and tax fraud.

Last year, Mr Trump provided the investigation with written answers to questions about his knowledge of Russian interference.

It was the first time the president had directly co-operated with the probe.