Giuliani: Trump interview possible
President Donald Trump is still considering an interview in special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election, but is concerned about what he sees as a “corrupt” and “tainted” investigation, the president’s lead attorney said.
Mr. Trump is “close” to making a determination, but he’s been waiting as more details emerge about “bias” on the part of investigators, Rudy Giulia ni said.
“How you could expect us to just walk up our client like a lamb going to the slaughter? We wouldn’t be lawyers if we would do that,” Mr. Giuliani said on ABC’s “This Week,” striking a similar tone to comments he’s made repeatedly since he joined Mr. Trump’s team in April.
He called it “the most corrupt investigation I have ever seen,” taking his cue from the president. On Saturday, Mr. Trump tweeted about “the Rigged Witch Hunt and the ‘Special’ Counsel.”
In a separate interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Giuliani said he doesn’t think Mr. Mueller, a former FBI director, is personally biased or corrupt but that “he’s surrounded by biased people ”he failed to vet properly, including FBI Agent Peter Strzok, whose antiTrump text exchanges from 2016 fed Republican allegations of bias.
Mr. Mueller removed Agent Strzok from his team as soon as the texts were discovered, and Mr. Mueller is a Republican.
But Mr. Giuliani said that Mr. Trump’s lawyers wouldn’t recommend an interview for the president “unless they can satisfy us that there is some basis for this investigation.”
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mr. Giuliani said that if Mr. Mueller issued a subpoena to compel Mr. Trump to testify, his legal team believes it could be quashed.
Mr. Giuliani also said he has no concerns about what Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s longtime personal lawyer and “fixer,” may tell investigators. Mr. Cohen gave an interview to ABC last week in which he signaled he may be willing to cooperate.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating his business practices, as is the team led by Mr. Mueller, who is investigating matters connected to Mr. Cohen as part of the broader probe of Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice by the president.
Federal agents searched Mr. Cohen’s home and office in April, and speculation has since mounted that he might turn on Mr. Trump and provide evidence to federal officials that could implicate the president or his campaign.
The former New York mayor said Sunday on NBC it’s “great” if Mr. Cohen wants to cooperate because “we’ve been through all the records” and “he has no evidence of, nor was he involved in anything untoward with the president.”
Mr. Giuliani added on ABC that he has counseled the president against granting a pardon to his longtime fixer — at least for now.