The Times obtained copies of a confidential letter sent by President Trump’s lawyers to the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. Reporters added context in annotations. Below it is another letter from the president’s lawyers sent last summer.
The lawyers argued that Mr. Mueller does not need to talk to the president and laid out a series of claims that foreshadow a potential fight over a subpoena, were the special counsel to try to force the president to testify.
The president’s lawyers say they will answer questions on the president’s behalf, a strategy that allows Mr. Trump the ability to say he has offered answers to every question — without the risk of actually having to sit for an interview.
57 Karoun Demirjian, More Than 20 White House Employees Talked to Mueller; Senate Panel to Release Trump Jr. Transcripts, CHICAGO TRIBUNE (Jan. 25, 2018), 59 Andrew C. McCarthy, Donald Trump Should Refuse a Mueller Interview, NATIONAL REVIEW (Jan. 27, 2018)
Mueller in January. The letter was a response to his request that Mr. Trump agree to be questioned about allegations that he committed obstruction of justice. The lawyers argued that Mr. Mueller does not need to talk to the president and laid out a series of claims that foreshadow a potential fight over a subpoena, were the special counsel to try to force the president to testify.
In arguing that the president need not talk to investigators, his lawyers invoked a 1997 appeals court ruling involving Mike Espy, a secretary of agriculture under President Clinton who was accused of improperly accepting gifts from businesses. (Mr. Espy was charged but acquitted.)
Reading the entire interview, the fair reading of the President’s remarks demonstrates that the President: 1 Fired Mr. Comey for incompetence; 2 Knew, based on the timing of the firing, that his action could actually lengthen the Russian investigation and in any event would not terminate it; 3 Demonstrated, with his comments to Mr. Holt about the Russia investigation, that he was not concerned about the continuation of any current investigation, even a now-lengthier investigation, because he knows there is no “collusion” to uncover; and 4 Made it clear that he was willing, even expecting, to let the investigation take more time, though he thinks it is ridiculous, because he believes that the American people deserve to have a competent leader of the FBI.
Flynn stated that FBI agents met with him to inform him that their investigation was over.”. The second occurred on a telephone call on February 10, 2017, wherein Mr. McGahn, Mr. Priebus, and the Vice President confronted Lt. Gen. Flynn concerning his discussions with Ambassador Kislyak.
The President’s meeting on February 14, 2017 , with then-Director James Comey; Any other relevant information regarding former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn; The President’s awareness of and reaction to investigations by the FBI, the House and the Senate into possible collusion;
The lawyers argued that Mr. Mueller does not need to talk to the president and laid out a series of claims that foreshadow a potential fight over a subpoena, were the special counsel to try to force the president to testify.
Mueller has already obtained the same information he would get from an interview with Mr. Trump. But if a subpoena fight does arise, Mr. Mueller will almost certainly argue that only by questioning Mr. Trump directly about what he was thinking can investigators determine his intent.
The report also says Mueller did not believe he had to interview Trump because a legal battle for his cooperation would be lengthy — and his state of mind was obvious. Prosecutors also consulted an opinion by DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel that a sitting president can't be indicted, "and accepted OLC's legal conclusion," the report says.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's lengthy report made public Thursday reviewed President Donald Trump's attempts to muddy the investigation, including efforts to tamper with witnesses, but decided not to charge him with obstruction in part because there was no underlying crime and many of the attempts were carried out in plain view.
Mueller report found Trump directed White House lawyer to 'do crazy s---". The document also revealed the president launched an "f-bomb" when he found out a special counsel had been named to investigate him. Special counsel Robert Mueller's lengthy report made public Thursday reviewed President Donald Trump's attempts to muddy the investigation, ...
NBC News' Pete Williams reads excerpts from Mueller Report. April 18, 2019 03:04. Investigators had looked at Trump's response to reports about Russia's support of his campaign, his firing of FBI Director James Comey, his behavior about charges against his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, ...
Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the Mueller report's release. The showdown was reported by The New York Times last year, and derided by Trump as "fake news.". The Mueller report says while Trump may not have been trying to cover up any collusion with the Russians, he did have "a motive to put the FBI's Russia investigation ...
Additionally, in a few instances, IRA employees represented themselves as U.S. person s to communicate with members of the Trump Campaign in an effort to seek assistance and coordination on IRA-organized political rallies inside the United States,” the report found.
Trump told Mueller’s investigators in a written statement that he has “no independent recollection” of that time period. A later attempt to spin the meeting as being about Russian adoptions appears to have been motivated for public relation reasons, the report says.
Mr Mueller examined 10 actions by the president in regards to obstruction of justice, which he said largely "took place in public view". The report says that potential obstruction of justice by the president only failed because members of his administration, including former FBI Director James Comey, ...
Democrat Jerry Nadler accuses the attorney general of "waging a media campaign" for Trump. "Attorney General Barr appears to have shown an unsettling willingness to undermine his own department in order to protect President Trump," Mr Nadler said on Thursday.
The 448-page redacted document, collated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, was finally released on Thursday. Mr Trump's legal team has described the report as a "total victory". But the country's top lawyer, William Barr, is facing heavy criticism of his handling of the report's release. Senior Democrats have accused the attorney general ...
What does the report reveal? Mr Mueller's report says he found no criminal conspiracy between Mr Trump's campaign and Russia, but could not reach a concrete legal conclusion on whether Mr Trump tried to obstruct the investigation.
The report says that in June 2017, Mr Trump called Don McGahn - then a White House lawyer - to try to get Mr Mueller removed over alleged "conflicts of interest". media caption. US Attorney General William Barr on Mueller report findings. Mr McGahn told the special counsel he resigned after feeling "trapped because he did not plan to follow ...
A joint statement by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who lead the Democrats in Congress, said it was "clear" the report "appears to undercut" Mr Barr's characterisation of it.