Giuliani says time for Russia probe to end
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that Russia special counsel Robert Mueller told the president’s legal team he would not indict a sitting president, CNN reported.
“They have to follow the Justice Department rules,” Giuliani told CNN’S Dana Bash.
The rule is in the U.S. Attorneys’ Manual, an internal Department of Justice document, which generally recommends against naming unindicted co-conspirators — though doing so is not generally prohibited by law or policy.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon was named an unindicted co-conspirator in indictments from the Watergate investigation.
Nixon was not indicted because of concerns about whether the U.S. Constitution allowed for the indictment of a sitting president, according to news reports.
“The Justice Department memos going back to before Nixon say that you cannot indict a sitting president, you have to impeach him,” Giuliani said.
“Now, there was a little time in which there was some dispute about that, but they acknowledged to us orally that they understand that they can’t violate the Justice Department rules.
“We think it’s bigger than that,” the former federal prosecutor and New York City mayor said.
“We think it’s a constitutional rule, but I don’t think you’re ever going to confront that because nobody’s ever going to indict a sitting president.
“So, what does that leave them with?” Giuliani asked. “That leaves them with writing a report.”
The Russia investigation marks its first anniversary Thursday — and Mueller must file a status report with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in early July, according to news reports.
Giuliani also told Bash he intended to query the Mueller probe to disclose how much money has been spent on the investigation.
Giuliani later Wednesday told Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham that Mueller “has all the facts to make a decision” after 12 months investigating Russian meddling in the election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign.
“It’s about time to say enough. We’ve tortured this president enough,” he added, describing the investigation as being “like a big weight” on the president’s back.