President Donald Trump won’t answer any questions from the special counsel Robert Mueller having to do with obstruction of justice, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has asserted.
Giuliani spoke to the news website Axios who reported in an article published Wednesday:
“President Trump delivered to Robert Mueller handwritten answers about pre-election dimensions of the Russia probe but did not answer questions about his behavior as president, including allegations of obstruction of justice — and will resist doing so in the future — according to his lawyer Rudy Giuliani.”
According to the Axios reporting, Mueller did not ask specifically about obstruction of justice in this round of questioning. Trump and his team of lawyers led by the former New York City mayor apparently have already decided to stonewall any further obstruction questions that might come from Mueller in the future.
Despite the controversy over obstruction of justice questions not to be overlooked is that fact that Trump HAS answered some of Mueller’s questions. This represents a significant milestone in Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia, and a possible conspiracy to interfere with the 2016 U.S. elections.
What is significant is that this is the first time Trump has told investigators what he knows about key moments of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Giuliani said Trump would refuse to cooperate if Mueller sends the president a subpoena in an attempt to coerce him into testifying about his activities as president.
“I don’t think he has any way to compel testimony on obstruction because the argument of executive privilege would be very, very strong,” Giuliani said. “It all relates to a period of time after he was president.”
Executive privilege purportedly gives the president and the executive branch the power to resist subpoenas from Congress and the judicial branch. The theory is that this is necessary in order to uphold the constitutional concept of separation of powers.
Mueller in the past has acknowledged that executive privilege might be a factor that could complicate his investigation as it relates to a presidential interview.
Trump’s allies have said that by asking the president to testify and answer questions Mueller is setting a “perjury trap” for the president. The implication is that Trump would lie — or at the very least contradict himself — under oath.
Giuliani now appears to believe that he has found a way around that problem.
“The law definitely requires that if you’re going to subpoena a president, you have to show that you can’t get the information any place else,” Giuliani said, suggesting Mueller may have to go on public records and comments.
Giuliani also discussed the details of the questions and said they pertain mostly to Trump’s knowledge of his campaign’s interactions with Russia in 2016.
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