Donald Trump’s lawyers are open to having the president sit down for an interview with Robert Mueller, according to a senior White House official, as part of a wider posture of cooperation with the special counsel’s Russia probe.
If Mueller doesn’t request an interview by Thanksgiving, Trump’s lawyers may even force the issue by volunteering Trump’s time, the official said. The White House believes such an interview could help Mueller wrap up the probe faster and dispel the cloud of suspicion over Trump.
A meeting with Mueller could bring serious risks for Trump—exposing him to questions about everything from potential obstruction of justice over his firing of FBI Director James Comey to what Trump might know about Kremlin support for his presidential campaign.
But the official suggested that the White House has no reason to stonewall Mueller.
“Whatever happens with regard to whether or not, or how, the special counsel might want to interview the president, there’s no reason to expect that would be combative,” the senior White House official explained.
Trump told reporters this spring that he was “100 percent” willing to testify under oath about alleged Russian ties to his campaign. But even if he has nothing to hide, Trump’s unpredictable nature and willingness to bend the facts poses headaches for his legal team as it strategizes for a possible sit-down with Mueller. One angry or untrue statement could have devastating political and legal consequences for the president.
There are a couple of separate issues here in these five graphs. First of all, who on Trump's legal team is counseling Trump to talk to Mueller under oath? Does Trump actually know about this plan, and is the plan to force Trump to talk to Mueller even if he doesn't want to? How the heck are they going to make Trump do this and it not be a disaster where he blows his stack?
Second, why volunteer to talk to Mueller under oath at all? Bill Clinton did and he was still impeached for his troubles and while the Senate votes to remove him from office were a foregone conclusion of acquittal as the GOP only had 55 senators in January 1999, the fact remained that it was Clinton's statements to Ken Starr (the now infamous "depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is") that led to the articles and subsequent trial.
Third, is this a good faith effort in order to strike a deal later on? The "we've got nothing to hide" defense only works if you're 1) completely innocent or 2) you're so guilty and so powerful that you just want to save time and get to the horse trading already. Clinton's guys figured impeachment would never come because they knew the GOP didn't have the votes in the Senate. It ended up costing Al Gore votes a year later because people thought Clinton got away with it.
Finally, what's coming from Mueller that's prompting Trump's lawyers wanting to fully cooperate? Is it Trump selling out his cabinet and maybe even his family? Is this open treason? It can't get much worse, right?
We'll see.
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