President Donald Trump’s
Broad executive power claim made in Mueller memo
lawyers contend that he can’t be made to testify in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s lawyers composed a secret 20-page letter to special counsel Robert Mueller to assert that the president cannot be forced to testify while arguing that he could not have committed obstruction because he has absolute authority over all federal investigations.
The existence of the letter, which was first reported Saturday by The New York Times, was a bold assertion of presidential power and another front on which Trump’s lawyers have argued that the president can’t be subpoenaed in the special counsel’s ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The letter is dated Jan. 29 and addressed to Mueller from John Dowd, a lawyer who has since resigned from Trump’s legal team. In the letter, Trump’s lawyers argue that a charge of illegal obstruction is moot because the Constitution empowers the president to, “if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.”
Trump weighed in Saturday on Twitter, asking “Is the Special Counsel/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media?”
Mueller has requested an interview with the president to determine whether he had criminal intent to obstruct the investigation into his associates’ possible links to Russia’s election interference. Trump had previously signaled that he would be willing to sit for an interview, but his legal team, including head lawyer Rudy Giuliani, have privately and publicly expressed concern that the president could risk charges of perjury.
If Trump does not consent to an interview, Mueller will have to decide whether to forge forward with a historic grand jury subpoena. Giuliani has told The Associated Press that the president’s legal team believes Mueller does not have the authority to do so.
A court battle is likely if Trump’s team argues that the president can’t be forced to answer questions or be charged with obstruction of justice. President Bill Clinton was charged with obstruction in 1998 by the House of Representatives as part of his impeachment trial. And one of the articles of impeachment prepared against Richard Nixon in 1974 was for obstruction.
In addition to the legal battles, Trump’s team and allies have waged a public relations campaign against Mueller to discredit the investigation. Giuliani said last month that the special counsel probe may be an “entirely illegitimate investigation” and need to be curtailed because it was based on inappropriately obtained information and former FBI Director James Comey’s memos.
In reality, the FBI began a counterintelligence investigation in July 2016 to determine if Trump campaign associates were coordinating with Russia to tip the election.
Giuliani has said a decision will not be made about a possible presidential interview with the special counsel until after Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore.