Giuliani wants limits for Trump interview in Russia probe

[webfact]

Giuliani wants limits for Trump interview in Russia probe

By Karen Freifeld

 

FILE PHOTO: Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani introduces Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump at a campaign event in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 22, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's new chief lawyer said on Thursday that if his client agrees to an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, it should be limited to a few hours and focus on Russian tampering in the 2016 election.

 

Asked what questions might be appropriate, the lawyer Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor, suggested two to Reuters: "Was there some agreement with the Russians? Was there any meeting of Trump with the Russians?"

 

A former federal prosecutor, Giuliani said he was the president's new chief counsel in the Russia investigation but that he would also keep an eye on a U.S. inquiry into a $130,000 hush payment by longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen to a porn star who said she had a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.

 

Giuliani said he wanted any Trump interview with Mueller to be limited in time and scope, suggesting for only 2-1/2 hours and not under oath.

 

In addition to the Russia questions, Giuliani said investigators could ask about possible obstruction of justice related to Trump's firing a year ago of then-FBI Director James Comey.

 

The two sides have been negotiating the terms of a possible interview for months, including topics Mueller might pursue as part of a nearly year-old inquiry into possible collusion between Moscow and Trump's presidential campaign.

 

The Kremlin has denied assertions by U.S. intelligence agencies that it meddled in the election. Trump has denied any collusion and has described the investigation as a political witch hunt.

 

Giuliani, who joined Trump's legal team last month, said they were trying to figure out whether it was a good idea for Trump to voluntarily submit to an interview.

 

"Are they trying to trap him?" Giuliani asked. He said Trump's legal team expected to make a decision in two or three weeks. "We want to get it over with," he said.

 

Giuliani said Trump had used retainer fees starting in 2017 to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 Cohen paid the porn star, Stormy Daniels, in the closing weeks of the November 2016 election.

 

Trump wrote in a tweet on Thursday that Cohen was not paid using campaign funds. The payment was part of a "private agreement" that involved money that had "nothing to do with the campaign," Trump said.

 

He said the payment was aimed at stopping "false and extortionist accusations" Daniels made about a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump acknowledged a non-disclosure agreement with her to secure her silence. He denied they had an affair.

 

The president had previously told reporters he did not know about the payment Cohen made to Daniels.

 

The investigation of Cohen is an offshoot of Mueller's probe.

 

The claim of repayment is significant because a payment by Cohen could be seen as an illegal campaign contribution. Trump as candidate would have been permitted to make unlimited personal contributions to his own campaign.

 

    But legal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said it was asking the Department of Justice and Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether Trump made an illegal false statement by not including the $130,000 payment in his personal financial disclosures.

 

The group said Trump was legally required to disclose any liability in excess of $10,000.

 

Other legal experts said the payment may not qualify as the sort of financial obligation Trump would have been required to disclose.

 

Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University, said that while prosecutions for making false statements to the government are common, they are rarely based on an omission on a financial disclosure form.

 

"I don’t see this becoming a case," he said.

 

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Makini Brice and Jan Wolfe; editing by Grant McCool and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-04

[Expatthailover]

Well he would say that wouldnt he.

The ever decreasing number of wagons are circling right now.

[Emster23]

Trump should be able to skewer himself in just a few minutes, not a few hours.

If you tell the truth, you can't be caught in a "perjury trap"

Therein lies the problem for Trump: he is a pathological liar

[KKr]

yet another attempt to put the "president" above the law

[dunroaming]

3 hours ago, Expatthailover said:

Well he would say that wouldnt he.

The ever decreasing number of wagons are circling right now.

Well it does feel like the pressure is building.  You have to wonder just how far they can tighten the vice (no not Pence!).   At what point does Trump sit down with Mueller and try to cut a deal to save his bacon.  He is such a wonderful deal maker I am sure he can come up with something fantastic 

[quandow]

Giuliani JUST went on Fox News and shot his client in the foot. The REAL crime would be if Trump pushed to make the payment to Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet because of the possibility of influencing his campaign. The THEORY was the payment was for her silence due to his marital infidelity, a PR issue to protect his reputation. Giuliani admitted that Cohen made the payment so it wouldn't hurt the campaign. THAT'S breaking campaign finance laws. If they had just paid her and admitted it in the beginning, it would have been downgraded to another "pussy grabbing" statement. The COVERUP has elevated this story to something that may have some bite.

Edited May 4, 2018 by quandow

[RobFord]

One dotard hires another.

 

 

[Guitar God]

There's a foolproof method of not falling into a "perjury trap". 

 

Quit lying every time you open your mouth. 

[MajarTheLion]

I would tell Mueller to go pound sand.

[dunroaming]

1 hour ago, Guitar God said:

There's a foolproof method of not falling into a "perjury trap". 

 

Quit lying every time you open your mouth. 

For someone whose whole existence is based on lies he has told, it is far too late to start telling the truth now.  Nobody seriously believes a congenital liar 

[dunroaming]

1 hour ago, MajarTheLion said:

I would tell Mueller to go pound sand.

I am sure he is waiting for your call 

[attrayant]

1 hour ago, MajarTheLion said:

I would tell Mueller to go pound sand.

 

At which point you'd be subpoenaed.

[MajarTheLion]

7 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

At which point you'd be subpoenaed.

Why would I be subpoenaed? And if I were, I would either refuse to answer questions or plead the Fifth. What is the point in meeting with people who want to put you in jail?

[attrayant]

1 minute ago, MajarTheLion said:

What is the point in meeting with people who want to put you in jail?

 

Then why did Trump say so many times that he was anxious to meet Mueller?  It will never matter to you, Trump's base, what he does.  But there are a great many people who are getting more and more put off by the constant lies and apparent criminal activity.  Trump takes the 5th and then we get news cycle after news cycle of Trump on record saying "if you're innocent, why are you pleading the 5th?"  You can't possibly think that won't have any impact on the public.

 

You're right - Trump can thumb his nose at the whole process as long as nobody cares.  But people do care, and the midterm elections are coming up.  Trump thumbing his nose at the rule of law will have consequences.

[dunroaming]

31 minutes ago, MajarTheLion said:

What is the point in meeting with people who want to put you in jail?

I am sure that is the view of many criminals out there.  Apparently though you feel that the President of the USA shouldn't be accountable?

[attrayant]

3 hours ago, MajarTheLion said:

What is the point in meeting with people who want to put you in jail?

 

Trump himself said - just a few hours ago - that he'd love to talk with Mueller.

 

 

And in the same clip he says this about Rudy: "Virtually everything that was said was wrong", and that Rudy needs to "get his facts straight".

 

 

I think that's the same bus that hit Michael Cohen.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2018 by attrayant

[Jingthing]

Gaslighting central strikes again. Just resign already!

The American people and the world deserve so much better than this ridiculous, serial lying, demagogue CON MAN. 

Edited May 4, 2018 by Jingthing

[Dumbastheycome]

Limited  questions  and  " Not  under  oath"?

Maybe  appropriate.  

Trumps   sworn  oath   at  induction to Presidency  is an indication   of   any  further  outcome. 

 

[lostlink]

I would tell Mueller to take a hike.

 

The Mueller team received a HUGE dressing down today in the Manafort case. The judge is also demanding the unredacted copy of Special Counsel Memo.

[Slip]

34 minutes ago, lostlink said:

I would tell Mueller to take a hike.

 

The Mueller team received a HUGE dressing down today in the Manafort case. The judge is also demanding the unredacted copy of Special Counsel Memo.

Links please.

[lostlink]

4 minutes ago, Slip said:

Links please.

It's been all over the place. Reuters, CNN, FOX.  Take your pick.

[LomSak27]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

Giuliani wants limits for Trump interview in Russia probe

 

I want better relief pitching, an altogether better bullpen. Im tired of the 9th inning meldowns.

I also want a better running game and linebacking Corps  for my footie squad.

 

Can you get on that for me Rudy? Can you?!

[Slip]

4 minutes ago, lostlink said:

It's been all over the place. Reuters, CNN, FOX.  Take your pick.

No- link this 'huge dressing down' you stated.

[LomSak27]

Only breaking news of the day

Trump makes a statement about Rudy: “He'll get his facts straight”

And

Pruitt’s press people have been flogging Smear stories about Zinke to the media. ........... Desperation Friday 

[Redline]

8 hours ago, MajarTheLion said:

Why would I be subpoenaed? And if I were, I would either refuse to answer questions or plead the Fifth. What is the point in meeting with people who want to put you in jail?

Or, just shoot yourselves in the face 

[attrayant]

9 hours ago, lostlink said:

The Mueller team received a HUGE dressing down today in the Manafort case. The judge is also demanding the unredacted copy of Special Counsel Memo.

 

A federal judge in Manafort's case just made a bizarre comment about Mueller that left experts baffled

 

The judge questioned the prosecutor's methods, and accused them of using Manafort to get to Trump.  To which my response is - yeah, so?  That's what prosecutors do almost every day.

 

"Legal experts and former Justice Department prosecutors immediately raised questions about [the judge's] comments. "The operative question here is whether Manafort committed the crimes he's accused of and whether Mueller had the authority to charge them," said Jeffrey Cramer, a longtime former federal prosecutor who spent 12 years at the Justice Department. "Whether prosecutors brought the case to flip Manafort is entirely irrelevant." Cramer added, moreover, that it's "hardly shocking" when prosecutors charge defendants to gain their cooperation against bigger fish."

 

The analysis goes on to say that's what prosecutors do - they ensnare low-level flunkies to get to the crime bosses. That's a prosecutor's job.  If the judge uses this line of reasoning (questioning the prosecutor's motives) in his decision, he will be reversed.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2018 by attrayant

[freebyrd]

Giuliani has gone from heroic (9/11) to being a clown now that he's worshipping the thatched buffoon, quite a tumble.

Edited May 5, 2018 by freebyrd