Giuliani tries to negotiate an end to investigation, Mueller still wants to talk to Trump
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Rudy Giuliani’s job for Donald Trump is to bring this whole Russia (hoax/Witch Hunt!/probe/serious threat to Trump that has already indicted four members of his campaign and convicted a fifth person) investigation to a close, as quickly as possible. On TueGiuliani tries to negotiate an end to investigation, Mueller still wants to talk to Trump
Rudy Giuliani’s job for Donald Trump is to bring this whole Russia (hoax/Witch Hunt!/probe/serious threat to Trump that has already indicted four members of his campaign and convicted a fifth person) investigation to a close, as quickly as possible. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reports that Giuliani sat down with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to inquire about just when this thing might be over. In response, Mueller reminded Giuliani of something he’s said before: He would rather appreciate an interview with Donald Trump. Giuliani, who joined Trump’s legal team last week, conveyed the ongoing resistance of Trump and his advisers to an interview with federal investigators, but did not rule out the possibility, the people said, adding that Giuliani pressed Mueller for clarity on when the probe is expected to end. Trump’s team is continuing the pretense that Mueller bringing Trump in for an interview risks setting some kind of precedent, and that it will only happen on Trump’s terms. But precedent was already set three administrations ago, when Bill Clinton was interviewed by Special Investigator Robert Fiske in the opening months of the Whitewater investigation. The back-to-back questioning of the President and Mrs. Clinton represented the first time that a sitting President has given a deposition about his official conduct. It was apparently the first time a sitting First Lady has ever been interviewed by law-enforcement officials about her conduct while in the White House. And even that wasn’t the real precedent. In 1980, Republicans demanded, and got, an appearance by Jimmy Carter before the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility to discuss something as vital as the behavior of his brother Billy. Because Republicans are all about everybody-is-subject-to-the-law, so long as “everybody” isn’t a Republican. Still, Trump remains “extremely opposed” to granting Mueller an interview, according to one close adviser — setting up a potential high-stakes legal battle between the White House and the special counsel, who could ultimately seek to try to subpoena the president. Read more