Trump: written responses go to Mueller next week
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he “very easily” answered written questions from special counsel Robert Mueller, though he speculated that the questions had been “tricked up” to try to catch him in a lie.
“They’re all done,” Trump told reporters at the White House early Saturday before leaving for California, adding that his responses will soon be submitted to Mueller’s team. “We do that next week,” he said, in what signals a new phase of the inquiry.
In a swipe the day before at the investigation into 2016 election interference and possible ties between Moscow and the Trump campaign, the president said that “you have to always be careful when you answer questions with people that probably have bad intentions.”
Mueller has signaled a willingness to accept written answers on matters related to collusion with Russia. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has said repeatedly the president would not answer Mueller’s questions on possible obstruction of justice.
During months of backand-forth negotiations with the special counsel’s office, Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly advised the president against sitting down for an in-person interview.
Mueller’s year-and-ahalf-long investigation has produced guilty pleas and convictions of several top Trump aides even as the special counsel and the White House have engaged in lengthy negotiations about how — or if — the president would testify.
Though he spent hours with his attorneys, Trump on Friday insisted: “My lawyers don’t write answers, I write answers.”
The president’s remarks were fresh evidence of his return to the ominous rhythms of the Russia probe after spending heady weeks enjoying adulation-soaked campaign rallies before the midterm elections.
Despite Trump’s insistence that he’s “very happy” with how things are going, his frustrations with the probe have been evident everywhere from his Twitter feed this past week to his private grousing that the special counsel may target his family. There’s also the criticism he’s getting over his choice for acting attorney general, as well as late-arriving election results that have largely been tipping toward House Democrats.