Trump Could Interview With Mueller to End Probe: Report
President Donald Trump could sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller in exchange for concluding the ongoing investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Trump’s lawyers are considering using a possible interview as negotiation leverage, and might ask Mueller to end the Trump-related portion of his investigation within 60 days of speaking with the president. They would also ask Mueller to keep the conversation narrow, focusing only on Trump’s firing of former FBI director James Comey and former national security adviser Mike Flynn.
Talks between Trump’s lawyers and Mueller are reportedly still in the beginning phases.
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The president has previously said that he is open to speaking with Mueller while under oath. “I’m looking forward to it, actually,” he said during an impromptu White House press briefing in January. “Here’s the story, just so you understand,” he said, “there’s been no collusion whatsoever. There’s no obstruction whatsoever, and I’m looking forward to it.”
The president has repeatedly denied any collusion with Moscow during the 2016 presidential elections, and often refers to Mueller’s ongoing investigation as a “witch hunt.” Trump has reportedly been encouraging his legal team to end the investigation as quickly as possible and has said that the investigation is bad for America, and that the world is “laughing” at the United States because of it.
But legal experts said that Trump’s requests would likely be denied.
“You can’t put a timeline on these things,” Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor and an expert in government investigations told The Journal. “Someone could walk in the door on the day before their proposed deadline and say, ‘I’ve got some information that’s going to blow your minds.’ … Mueller’s going to say, ‘Oh, too bad, the deadline is tomorrow?’”
Mueller has interviewed a number of high-ranking administration officials including former communications director Hope Hicks, senior adviser and first son-in-law Jared Kushner, senior adviser Stephen Miller and attorney general Jeff Sessions. Four Trump campaign advisers, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates and George Papadopoulos, have been charged though none of their charges are directly related to campaign misconduct.
Trump told NBC News that he was thinking of “this Russia thing,” when he decided to fire former FBI director James Comey. Mike Flynn was fired after reportedly lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia.
Mueller’s investigation, meanwhile, has reportedly expanded beyond the scope of these firings and into the president’s family business ties.