Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling is continuing to tighten, with NBC News reporting Monday that Mueller has informed the White House that he will seek an interview with the president.
Mueller reportedly told Trump’s legal team he was considering requesting an interview in late December, provoking a discussion among the White House lawyers of how what kinds of limits Trump could set on such a session—or even whether he could refuse to participate entirely.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump “is comfortable participating in an interview and believes it would put to rest questions about whether his campaign coordinated with Russia in the 2016 election.” But Trump’s attorneys are reportedly skittish at the possibility of a no-holds-barred interview between their famously loose-lipped and truth-averse client and a team they suspect is on a fishing expedition.
Neither the White House nor the famously tight-lipped special counsel have made their plans for a potential interview public. Asked Monday afternoon whether Trump would consent to such an interview if Mueller requested it, deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley declined to answer, instead reading a statement from Trump lawyer Ty Cobb: “The White House does not comment on communications with the Office of the Special Counsel out of respect for the Office of the Special Counsel and its process.”
