Mueller’s long game is already paying off

Careful strategy raises chances of success

President Donald Trump’s legal team appears to have won a victory. Special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to let Trump provide answers in writing, instead of in a personal interview, to questions concerning his campaign’s contacts with Russia. But far from a defeat for Mueller, this is part of a carefully considered approach that has been repeatedly vindicated. By dragging out the negotiations since January, Mueller has allowed breathing room for the rest of his investigation. And he has put that time to good use.

Mueller has charged 12 Russian military intelligence officers with hacking Democratic National Committee emails; reached a plea deal with Rick Gates, Trump’s former deputy campaign manager; sentenced George Papadopoulos, the campaign’s foreign policy adviser; and secured a cooperation agreement with former campaign manager Paul Manafort after convicting him on eight criminal charges.

By all accounts, the end is nowhere in sight. Mueller is like Shakespeare’s Birnam Wood, creeping closer to the White House step by step, without the president fully realizing it.

Mueller has given up very little in buying that time and in agreeing to accept written answers from Trump. The reported offer only covers questions about possible collusion. On that front, Mueller may already have enough evidence without Trump’s testimony, especially now that he has cooperation from Manafort and reportedly from Trump’s Mr. Fix It, Michael Cohen.

Neither does the delay likely affect Mueller’s obstruction of justice case, given the amount of already known evidence pointing to Trump’s corrupt intent in firing former FBI Director James Comey. Mueller has contemporaneous notes from Comey’s conversations with the president, in which he asked for “loyalty” and for the FBI to let go of its investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn (who has pleaded guilty to making false statements). Mueller also has the president’s own admission on national television that he fired Comey because of the “made-up” Russia story.

And Mueller has had numerous unfettered interviews with White House counsel Don McGahn, who knows of Trump’s efforts to stop Attorney General Jeff Sessions from recusing from the Russia investigation, and may have more information about Trump pressure on the intelligence community to officially clear his name.

Nor has Mueller given up his ultimate weapon. He could, if he chooses, issue a subpoena to compel the president to testify.

The protracted negotiation with Mueller allows Trump to believe he is calling some shots. We may well have seen the beneficial results in the past few days. Despite a New York Times report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein offered to wear a wire around Trump and brought up the 25th Amendment, a much feared Saturday Night Massacre II has not yet materialized. Breathless rumors of Rosenstein’s ouster Monday were false, although anything could happen at his scheduled meeting Thursday with Trump.

Fox News provocateur Sean Hannity went on the air after the Rosenstein allegations to beg Trump not to fire people. Mueller’s cautious approach has helped bring us to this point.

Stalling has also given Justice Department officials an advantage regarding Congress. Today, they would submit Mueller’s report to majority Republicans who would not be eager to release it. However, Democrats are favored to win the House on Nov. 6. They would then control House subpoena power and could ensure that Mueller’s findings see the light of day — even if Mueller or Rosenstein, his boss, is fired.

While the president’s lawyers have been occupied protecting the president from himself, Mueller has been playing the long game. What Trump’s legal team considers a victory is a deliberate strategy by Mueller to make sure the Russia investigation survives.

Norman Eisen is a senior fellow at Brookings, chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the author of “The Last Palace: Europe’s Turbulent Century In Five Lives and One Legendary House.” Asha Rangappa is a senior lecturer at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former FBI special agent.