White House trying to limit Trump interview
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s attorneys have provided the special counsel’s office with written descriptions that chronicle key moments under investigation in hopes of curtailing the scope of a presidential interview, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Trump’s legal team recently shared the documents in an effort to limit any session between the president and special counsel Robert Mueller to a few select topics, the people said. The lawyers are worried that Trump, who has a penchant for making erroneous claims, would be vulnerable in an hours-long interview.
The decision to share materials with Mueller’s team is part of an effort by Trump’s lawyers to minimize his exposure to the special counsel, whom the president recently attacked in a series of tweets.
Trump has told aides he is “champing at the bit” to sit for an interview, according to one person. But his lawyers, who are carefully negotiating the terms of a sit-down, recognize the extraordinarily high stakes.
As part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Mueller is probing whether Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia and whether the president obstructed justice by trying to block the investigation. In particular, his team is focused on Trump’s firing of his national security adviser and the FBI director, according to people familiar with the inquiry.
The president has denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a “witch hunt.”
Behind the scenes, his lawyers are moving into what one adviser called “crunchtime” — reviewing the likely questions Mueller’s team will have for the president. Trump Mueller
In preparation, Trump on Monday brought on another lawyer, hiring former U.S. attorney Joseph diGenova to join his personal legal team.
DiGenova and Trump share the view that a faction inside the FBI sought to frame Trump. In February, diGenova criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for trying to withhold the names of FBI officials from a controversial GOP House committee memo that called out their roles in seeking a surveillance warrant of a former Trump campaign aide.
DiGenova declined to comment on the role he will play.
John Dowd, an attorney for the president, declined to comment on any records provided to the special counsel.
“We have very constructive, productive communications with the special counsel and his colleagues,” he said Friday.
“We’re blessed to have them,” Dowd said of the conversations with Mueller’s team. “I think it’s helpful to them and, of course, I think it’s very helpful to us.”
Peter Carr, spokesman for the special counsel’s office, declined to comment.
The written materials provided to Mueller’s office include summaries of internal White House memos and contemporaneous correspondence about events Mueller is investigating, including the ousters of national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey. The documents describe the White House players involved and the president’s actions.
Special counsel investigators have told Trump’s lawyers that their main questions about the president fall into two simple categories, the two people said: “What did he do?” and “What was he thinking when he did it?”
Trump’s lawyers expect Mueller’s team to ask whether Trump knew about Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition, for example, and what instructions, if any, the president gave Flynn about the contact, according to two advisers.
Trump said in February that he fired Flynn because he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with Kislyak. He said he fired Comey because he had mishandled an investigation of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The records do not include Trump’s personal version of events but provide a narrative of the White House view, the people said. Trump’s lawyers hope the evidence eliminates the need to ask the president about some episodes.