Trump willing to be questioned
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he “would love to” be questioned under oath by Russia collusion prosecutor Robert Mueller, adding that it could happen in the coming weeks.
He confirmed his lawyers were in discussion with Mueller, who is leading the investigation into allegations of collusion between the US president’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, and into accusations that Trump tried to obstruct his probe.
“I would love to do it,” Trump said at the White House when asked about testifying.
“I would like to do it as soon as possible... subject to my lawyers and all of that.” he said. “I would do it under oath, absolutely.”
Asked when an interview could happen, Trump said he didn’t know exactly, but added: “Yesterday (Tuesday), they were talking about two or three weeks.”
It was the first time Trump said he would cooperate with Mueller, whose investigation he has repeatedly dismissed as being based on “fake news”.
“There has been no collusion whatsoever. There is no obstruction whatsoever,” he said on Wednesday.
Any interview with a US president in an investigation is fraught with issues of executive privilege: how much and in what context the US leader can be forced to disclose information.
In Trump’s case, it raises deep concerns that his shoot-fromthe-hip outspokenness could jeopardise his own legal position.
White House lawyer Ty Cobb seemed to walk back Trump’s remarks, saying the president just meant he was willing to meet, The New York Times reported.
“He’s ready to meet them, but he’ll be guided by the advice of his personal counsel.”
Cobb had repeatedly said the president was willing to testify in Mueller’s investigation, and wanted Mueller to wind up the case as early as possible.
Mueller is believed to be focusing on whether Trump illegally interfered with the Russia investigation, particularly when he fired Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey last year.
Those include a meeting in June 2016 between Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, son-in-law Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer who had allegedly offered them dirt on Trump’s election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
He has already issued indictments for four people from the campaign, securing guilty pleas from two: former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, both for making false statements.