Here we go subpoena and Supreme Court. Maybe this is a sign of Trump feeling the walls draw that much closer, but his legal team has reversed itself on what it agreed to only last week. At that time Mueller’s team said that it would accept written responses from Trump on questions relating to Russian election interference. Today, Rudy Giuliani said that was not acceptable and that Trump would not answer obstruction questions either in writing or in person. In Giuliani’s words, “That’s a no no.” Associated Press:
Giuliani’s statement was the most definitive rejection yet of special counsel Robert Mueller’s efforts to interview the president about any efforts to obstruct the investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and Russians. It signals that Trump’s lawyers are committed to protecting the president from answering questions about actions the president took in office.
Trump has previously said that he’s eager to be questioned by Mueller but his lawyers have been reluctant to allow that to happen, although if the depiction of John Dowd in excerpts from Woodward’s book “Fear” is any indication, “reluctant” is an understatement. In the book, Dowd, massively frustrated after practice sessions with Trump went nowhere, advised Trump to not testify or he’d “end up in an orange jumpsuit.” Then Dowd quit. Be that as it may, Giuliani previously agreed to written questions about obstruction but now he wants to define the process more exactly, apparently.
“It would be in written form and if you want to follow up on our answers, justify it. Show us why you didn’t get there the first time,” Giuliani said. He said he was not categorically ruling out answering a second round of questions but the entire matter of whether there would be follow-up inquiries should be settled before the president answers anything at all.
“We aren’t going to let them spring it on us,” said Giuliani, who has served as lawyer-spokesman for the president’s personal legal team, using television interviews and public comments as a tactic in the negotiations.
It looks like Giuliani is going to continue to push the “perjury trap” narrative. This is going to be an interesting fall, in both senses, the season and what’s about to happen to Trump.
