Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani: Trump will not answer obstruction questions
- by Kelli Lowe
- in Global Media
- — Sep 10, 2018
As Rudy Giuliani says Trump will not voluntarily answer any questions about obstruction, Axios reports that the president's legal team is banking on the idea that Mueller doesn't have the heart to go through the extensive legal battle it would take to issue a subpoena.
Giuliani's statement was the most definitive rejection yet of special counsel Robert Mueller's efforts to interview the president about any efforts to obstruct the investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and Russians.
Mr. Giuliani said Mr. Trump's legal team "would agree to written questions on Russian Federation".
Giuliani also told Politico that a deal is near for the president to provide written responses to Mueller's questions.
It's now unknown whether an interview will take place about other topics.
In a separate interview with Politico about obstruction questions, Giuliani said: "We're very opposed to that [but] we're not closing it off 100 percent".
In fact, Trump's lawyer, John Dowd, resigned in March after the POTUS' aggressive approach on the investigation and willingness to have a one-on-one interview with Mueller despite his warnings.
The person familiar with the letter spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations publically.
Giuliani's declaration drew a swift rebuke from Rep. Adam Schiff, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who tweeted: "Trump's legal team never had any intention of allowing him to be interviewed, knowing he is incapable of telling the truth. No one is above the law".
"We have said we would agree to written questions on Russian Federation after we review questions but no further commitment on interviews".
He further said, "We have said we would agree to written questions on Russian Federation after we review questions but no further commitment on interviews.
I don't know him", Trump said.
Trump's eagerness to sit in an interview with the special counsel's team and his belief that the move would end the probe, shows how little he is aware of the entire situation. He had denied Comey's account of events, which included claims that Trump asked for his personal loyalty and tried to urge him to drop the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, that the former FBI director testified to under oath. He told the Associated Press earlier that they were "a no-go".
