President Donald Trump’s attorneys want him to decline an interview request from special counsel Robert Mueller in the ongoing investigation into possible collusion with Russia.
According to The New York Times, they are concerned that the president, who has a history of making false statements and contradicting himself, could be charged with lying to investigators.
However, refusing an interview could lead to Mueller subpoenaing Trump to testify before a grand jury, setting up a potential court fight.
Additionally, political consequences could be at play, leading to accusations that the president is hiding something.
President Donald Trump’s attorneys want him to decline an interview request from special counsel Robert Mueller in the ongoing investigation involving possible collusion with Russia (Pictured, Trump in Blue Ash, Ohio, on Monday)
However, refusing an interview could lead to Mueller (pictured, in Washington, DC, June 2017) subpoenaing Trump to testify before a grand jury, setting up a potential court fight.
However, John Dowd, a seasoned Washington defense attorney who was hired last summer to represent Trump in the investigation, wants him to rebuff an interview request.
Dowd believes the special counsel might be unwilling to subpoena the president and set off a showdown with the White House that Mueller could lose in court, reported The Times.
Marc Kasowitz, the president’s longtime personal attorney from New York has also concurred on this matter.
The lawyers also have allies in the political hemisphere. Both Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, and Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and an informal adviser to Trump, echoed that advice.
‘The idea of putting Trump in a room with five or six hardened, very clever lawyers, all of whom are trying to trick him and trap him, would be a very, very bad idea,’ Mr. Gingrich said last month on ‘Fox and Friends’.
The attorneys also have some fear when it comes to Trump’s bravado. He has been known to brag to some aides that he would be able to clear himself if he talked to Mueller’s team.
John Dowd (pictured, January 2010), a seasoned Washington defense attorney who was hired last summer to represent Trump in the investigation, wants him to rebuff an interview request. Dowd believes the special counsel might be unwilling to subpoena the president
Ty Cobb (pictured, January 2004), the White House lawyer whom Trump also brought on for Mueller’s investigation, has argued that the White House should do everything possible to cooperate with the investigation to show transparency
‘I’m looking forward to it, actually,’ Trump told reporters at the White House last month.
When pressed, he also said he would be willing to be questioned under oath. Questioning by Mueller would not be under oath, though lying to federal investigators is a crime.
Trump has lied under oath in the past. In a 2007 deposition related to a libel case that Trump brought against the journalist Tim O’Brien, Trump admitted more than two dozen times under oath that he had lied in the past about a range of subjects.
Trump ultimately lost the case in 2011.
However, not everyone agrees that the president shouldn’t cooperate. One of those is Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer whom Trump also brought on for Mueller’s investigation.
Since Cobb was hired in July, he has argued that the White House should do everything possible to cooperate with the investigation to show transparency.