Trump could be interviewed within weeks
in Russia probe: Washington Post
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[January 09, 2018]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President
Donald Trump could be interviewed within weeks as part of Special
Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the
2016 U.S. presidential election, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
Mueller raised the issue of interviewing Trump during a meeting in late
December with the president's lawyers, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, the
Post said. The interview, which would deal with a limited portion of
questions, could take place within the next several weeks, the Post
said, citing a person close to the president.
Sekulow and Dowd did not immediately respond to requests for comment
about the Washington Post report. White House attorney Ty Cobb declined
to comment on it, saying it was policy not to comment on communications
with the special counsel's office.
Earlier on Monday, a source familiar with the issue said discussions
about Trump's possible testimony have been going on among lawyers. NBC
News reported that Trump's attorneys were in discussions about the
president being interviewed in connection with Mueller's Russia probe.
Citing three people familiar with the situation, NBC said lawyers for
Trump had met with representatives of Mueller's office in late December
to discuss the logistics of any such interview.
They included the location and length of such an interview as well as
legal standards and options for its format, including written responses
instead of a formal sit-down, according to the network.
The spokesman for the special counsel's office, Peter Carr, declined to
comment on the report.
Mueller has been appointed by the Justice Department to investigate
allegations of Russian meddling in the November 2016 election and
possible collusion with Trump's campaign.
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs after briefing the U.S. House
Intelligence Committee on his investigation of potential collusion
between Russia and the Trump campaign on Capitol Hill in Washington,
U.S., June 20, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in
the election to try to help Trump win. Russia has denied any
meddling, and Trump has said there was no collusion.
Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said in an interview with
MSNBC television on Monday that he expected Mueller would try to
talk to the president "face-to-face."
Mueller's probe so far has led to two Trump associates, former
national security adviser Michael Flynn and campaign aide George
Papadopoulos, pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents.
Two others, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his
associate, Richard Gates, were indicted on money laundering charges
but have pleaded not guilty.
Trump said on Saturday he was willing to speak with Mueller's team.
"There's been no collusion; there's been no crime," he told
reporters at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. "And,
in theory, everybody tells me I'm not under investigation."
(Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld and Mark Hosenball; writing
by Susan Heavey and David Alexander; Editing by Andrea Ricci and
Jonathan Oatis)
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