President Trump’s personal lawyers may offer Special Counsel Robert Mueller an interview with the president in an attempt to accelerate the conclusion of the ongoing Russia investigation, Politico reporters. Team Trump, which also wants to project the appearance that the White House has nothing to hide, is so eager to get Trump in front of Mueller that it may “force the issue” if an interview isn’t requested by Thanksgiving, the site says.
“Totally false!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” Trump lawyer John Dowd told Politico after it published the story.
It’s hard to believe Trump’s lawyers would be anxious to get him in front of Mueller, given the president’s well-documented difficulty telling the truth. One lie under oath and Trump could open himself up to a whole new batch of problems. But it’s possible Trump’s legal team is simply trying to get the interview out of the way so Trump has another card to play when publicly pressing to end the investigation.
Or, one lawyer who worked with Ken Starr during his investigation of President Clinton suggests, it could be an attempt to schedule the inevitable interview before Mueller is able to gather every bit of information he may want to ask Trump about. As Solomon Wisenberg told Politico, before Mueller sits down with Trump, “you want this investigation as wrapped up as it can be.”
