Donald Trump’s Legal Team Submits Counteroffer for Possible Interview in Mueller Probe

Comment by Jim Campbell

July 23, 2018

In probably the most infamous case of there’s no there, there, President Donald Trump would be stepping into a cauldron of boiling water to to sit down with Robert Mueller who seems to have but one objective, get the Republican President, Donald. J.Trump.

 

 

It’s highly unlikely the president will play Mueller’s game.

While the presidents lawyer Rudy Giuliani says president open to questions on possible collusion, less willing to discuss possible obstruction of justice

Don’t bet on anything of substance ever happening.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

ByRebecca Ballhaus

July 23, 2018

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s legal team has submitted a counter-offer to special counsel Robert Mueller on a possible interview with the president that could allow for questions about collusion with Russia but curtail inquiries related to obstruction of justice.

As negotiations for such a sit-down are set to enter their eighth month, Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said Monday that an interview between the special counsel and the president is “still on the table.”

 

 

The president’s legal team is open to him answering questions about possible collusion with Moscow, Mr. Giuliani said, but is less willing to have Mr. Trump discuss questions about obstruction of justice.

“We think the obstruction of it is handled by Article 2 of the Constitution,” Mr. Giuliani said, referring to the provision that gives the president executive authority to appoint and dismiss members of his administration.

Mr. Mueller is investigating whether Trump associates colluded with Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election, and whether Mr. Trump sought to obstruct justice in the firing of former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey in May 2017, while the FBI’s Russia probe was under way.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied collusion and obstruction, and Moscow has denied election interference.

Nonsense, Trumps only error was to not ask for his letter of resignation the first week he took office.

Please see the entire article below.

 

Mr. Trump’s lawyers have previously suggested they were willing to have the president answer questions about obstruction of justice—in particular, the firing of Mr. Comey and of former national security adviser Mike Flynn —but said they wouldn’t be open to Mr. Trump answering questions about his business dealings.

It is unclear whether Mr. Mueller’s team would be open to the legal team’s offer.

The special counsel this year outlined for the president’s legal team more than 40 questions he planned to ask in a possible interview with Mr. Trump.

The questions focused largely on the president’s decision to fire Mr. Comey, as well as what he meant when he told Russian diplomats at the White House later that month that dismissing the FBI director had taken “great pressure” off him, according to a New York Times report last year.

A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment.

Mr. Giuliani said in an interview Monday that the reasons Mr. Trump has given for firing the former FBI director are “more than sufficient” and that as president, he had the power to fire any member of his administration.

After firing Mr. Comey, Mr. Trump offered shifting explanations for the move. He initially blamed Mr. Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state. Days later, in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Mr. Trump cited the Russia investigation as a factor in the firing.

He has since reversed that, saying he didn’t fire the former FBI director over the Russia probe.

Mr. Giuliani said the counteroffer the legal team submitted to Mr. Mueller doesn’t address the time, date or place for an interview but added:

“That will be the easiest thing to figure out.” The legal team has previously discussed holding such an interview at the White House or at Camp David.

Negotiations between the president’s legal team and Mr. Mueller over the terms of a possible interview have been under way since January, and it’s unclear if such a sit-down will ever occur.

The president’s lawyers have expressed increasing skepticism about letting prosecutors interview Mr. Trump.

In May, Mr. Giuliani told The Wall Street Journal he was concerned that were the president to testify, he could “talk himself into becoming a target.”

Other people close to Mr. Trump’s legal team have voiced a similar view, worried that the president’s informal style and penchant for lengthy answers could expose him to legal jeopardy when taking questions from seasoned prosecutors.

THE END