Mueller hardens stance on Trump interview in Russia probe, Giuliani says

[webfact]

Mueller hardens stance on Trump interview in Russia probe, Giuliani says

By Karen Freifeld

 

FILE PHOTO: Robert Mueller testifies before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Federal Bureau of Investigation oversight on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., June 13, 2013. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller wants President Donald Trump to commit to a follow-up interview to written answers to questions in his probe of any coordination between Trump campaign members and Russia in the 2016 U.S. election, Rudy Giuliani, who is representing the president, said on Thursday.

 

Giuliani, who said talks between the two sides were continuing, saw Mueller's stance as a hardening in the position prosecutors are taking after offering to allow Trump to answer questions in writing.

 

"I thought we were close to having an agreement until they came back with, 'You have to agree now that you'll allow a follow-up,' and I don’t see how we can do it," Giuliani told Reuters.

 

Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment.

 

Lawyers for Trump have been negotiating over a potential interview with Mueller's team since last year in the U.S. investigation of Russian meddling in the presidential election, which Moscow denies. Trump has denied any campaign collusion, calling the Mueller probe a "witch hunt."

 

In a letter to Trump's lawyers last week, Mueller expressed a willingness to accept written responses on questions about collusion, but did not rule out a possible interview as a follow-up, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

 

After receiving the written responses, Mueller's investigators would decide on a next step, which could include an interview with Trump, the person said.

 

But Giuliani said on Thursday that Mueller's team had stiffened its position in the latest talks.

 

"They want a commitment" to a follow-up interview, Giuliani said. "We've said no, and let's see how they deal with it."

 

Giuliani has described a possible interview with Mueller as a potential "perjury trap," an opportunity to catch Trump making a false statement under oath, and legal experts have also suggested that Trump could open himself up to trouble.

 

Mueller is also investigating whether Trump may have tried to obstruct the Russia investigation after winning office, but Giuliani said on Thursday that no questions on the obstruction issue would be part of the first round of questions.

 

If negotiations break down with Mueller, a subpoena could be issued for Trump to testify before a grand jury, which Giuliani has said they would fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the campaign, seeking to tilt it in Trump's favour against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by hacking Democratic computer networks and spreading disinformation on social media.

 

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Tim Ahmann)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-07

[Chomper Higgot]

This is the interview Trump said he was looking forward to and would happen some time soon.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

Mueller can get as "hard" as he wants, if Trump is sensible and refuses to play. Mueller has few, if any, options to actually do anything about it. I can't see even him fronting up at the White House with some cops to arrest the POTUS. As I see it, Trump can just refuse, and short of the Dems gaining a majority in November, Mueller will just have to wait till Trump becomes an ex POTUS, in 2021.

[pegman]

8 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Mueller can get as "hard" as he wants, if Trump is sensible and refuses to play. Mueller has few, if any, options to actually do anything about it. I can't see even him fronting up at the White House with some cops to arrest the POTUS. As I see it, Trump can just refuse, and short of the Dems gaining a majority in November, Mueller will just have to wait till Trump becomes an ex POTUS, in 2021.

Maybe you should change news sources. He is about to face a mutiny by his own appointees. 

[zaphod reborn]

Mueller took the interview off the table more than 6 months ago when Dowd told Mueller that Trump was unable to testify truthfully.  This story is just obfuscation from Giuliani to make it appear that Trump is willing to cooperate, but Mueller is the bad guy.

 

Now that Trump is a target of the investigation, DOJ policy is not to interview or subpoena him for grand jury testimony.  After the report is released, it will be interesting to see if the new NY State AG will indict Trump, as I suspect Mueller is going to leave it up to Congress to impeach him rather than litigate whether DOJ can indict him while he is still in office.

[Boon Mee]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Mueller can get as "hard" as he wants, if Trump is sensible and refuses to play. Mueller has few, if any, options to actually do anything about it. I can't see even him fronting up at the White House with some cops to arrest the POTUS. As I see it, Trump can just refuse, and short of the Dems gaining a majority in November, Mueller will just have to wait till Trump becomes an ex POTUS, in 2021.

That would be year 2025.

[spidermike007]

As usual, Trump is not a man of his word. He actually said he was looking forward to the interview. Now the Piper comes calling, and they say absolutely not. I think his entire side knows he would end up in prison, and they are doing everything they can to shield, their colluding, treasonous, lying, very guilty client. 

[Chomper Higgot]

In the not too distant future Avenatti is going to haul Trump in for deposition in the Stormy Danniels case.

 

Avenatti is going to grind Trump to pulp and once again Avenatti will expose the crimes and lies of Trump and his enablers to Mueller’s investigation team.

 

Illiberals Get your denial glasses on, the truth will (despite Trump’s best efforts) out!

Edited September 7, 2018 by Chomper Higgot

[Jingthing]

5 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

In the not too distant future Avenatti is going to haul Trump in for deposition in the Stormy Danniels case.

 

Avenatti is going to grind Trump to pulp and once again Avenatti will expose the crimes and lies of Trump and his enablers to Mueller’s investigation team.

 

Illiberals Get your denial glasses on, the truth will (despite Trump’s best efforts) out!

I don't think Mueller will do that and I don't think he needs to that. It's clear "trump" is already impeachable just based on his tweets and there is no doubt Mueller has much more than that. But bottom line it will come down to congress. Will they act or not? The current congress, not for sure.

 

 

Explained --

Quote

Mueller could reasonably conclude that the interests of justice — and interests of the country — are better served if he completes his investigation expeditiously without the benefit of the president’s testimony. After all, it’s not unusual for prosecutors to conclude investigations without testimony by those at the center of the inquiry. And accepting written answers for now would not preclude Mueller from insisting on an interview or seeking a subpoena later, particularly if he was not satisfied with the answers. At this point, it’s better than nothing — and if Mueller chooses to fight, in the end, nothing may be exactly what he gets.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-mueller-and-trump-dance-may-finally-be-coming-to-an-end/2018/09/06/47867ba0-b1ed-11e8-a20b-5f4f84429666_story.html

 

 

[Srikcir]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Giuliani, who said talks between the two sides were continuing, saw Mueller's stance as a hardening in the position prosecutors are taking after offering to allow Trump to answer questions in writing.

All we have is Giuliani's side of events.

The truth might be that Mueller originally wanted a followup interview in addition to the written responses. That would make sense if Trump lies, evades and/or is inconsistent in his written responses. Thus, it might be that Mueller isn't hardening his position - only that Giuliani wants to present Mueller as such in order to justify Trump cancelling any formal response.

[Redline]

9 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Mueller can get as "hard" as he wants, if Trump is sensible and refuses to play. Mueller has few, if any, options to actually do anything about it. I can't see even him fronting up at the White House with some cops to arrest the POTUS. As I see it, Trump can just refuse, and short of the Dems gaining a majority in November, Mueller will just have to wait till Trump becomes an ex POTUS, in 2021.

As you see it-sums up the validity of your answer.  There are plenty of prosecutors waiting for him, not just Mueller-as I see it ?

[Basil B]

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

if Trump lies, evades and/or is inconsistent in his written responses.

If???

 

I think we all can predict DT by now... 

[Tug]

I’m sure muller has plenty on Donald allready probably just wants to see what Putin oops Donald has to say for himself lol actually it’s just Giuliani smoke screen 

[bristolboy]

What's especially interesting about the questions Mueller wants to pose to Trump is that they have nothing to do with obstruction of justice. They're only about Russia. It suggests that Mueller has some sort of evidence about Trump's Russian connections and wants to get him on the record.