Special counsel Robert Mueller raised the possibility of a subpoena to compel President Trump to appear before a grand jury should he attempt to dodge meeting with federal investigators as part of the Russia inquiry, according to a new report.
The suggestion came during a meeting between Mueller and Trump’s legal team in early March, the Washington Post reports. Trump’s lawyers, then headed by John Dowd, maintained that Trump was not obligated to speak with federal investigators.
This prompted Mueller to suggest that Trump could be subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, four sources familiar with the conversation said.
“This isn’t some game,” Dowd reportedly said in response. “You are screwing with the work of the president of the United States.”
In the ensuing contentious debate over how to proceed with a potential interview with Mueller, Dowd chose to resign.
An interview has yet to happen, but the New York Times on Monday published a list of four dozen questions Mueller wants Trump to answer. The list includes questions about former national security adviser Michael Flynn, fired FBI Director James Comey, and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
Trump has long condemned Mueller’s probe, frequently referring to it as a “witch hunt.”
“Oh, I see…you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
Although Trump has indicated he is interested in speaking to federal investigators, one of Trump’s lawyers, Trump campaign surrogate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, signaled in a report late last month that Trump’s team remains opposed to it.
