Some of the president’s advisers want him to answer questions in writing, like Ronald Reagan did during Iran-Contra—but don’t count on the special counsel agreeing to it.
Earlier this week, after weeks of rumblings about Donald Trump speaking to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, The New York Times reported that the president’s lawyers are urging him not to testify to Mueller. “His lawyers are concerned that the president, who has a history of making false statements and contradicting himself, could be charged with lying to investigators,” the Times reported.
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While Mueller has kept his cards close to his vest, there are reasons to doubt he might agree to a Reagan-like deal. Although Iran-Contra independent counsel Lawrence Walsh allowed Reagan to answer questions in writing, that was in large part because aides had testified that the president was mostly unaware of illegal activity, and Walsh “concluded that President Reagan’s conduct fell well short of criminality which could be successfully prosecuted,” according to his final report.
“The focus of the investigation was not criminal conduct by President Reagan,” Barrett said. In this case, however, Trump is very much a focus—from his campaign’s relationships with Russia to his own financial dealings to, perhaps most prominently, whether he obstructed justice.
“The president’s conduct is a subject of this investigation,” Barrett said. “My guess is Mueller would not be satisfied with written interrogatory.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/will-he-or-wont-he-talk-to-mueller/552653/
Earlier this week, after weeks of rumblings about Donald Trump speaking to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, The New York Times reported that the president’s lawyers are urging him not to testify to Mueller. “His lawyers are concerned that the president, who has a history of making false statements and contradicting himself, could be charged with lying to investigators,” the Times reported.
...
While Mueller has kept his cards close to his vest, there are reasons to doubt he might agree to a Reagan-like deal. Although Iran-Contra independent counsel Lawrence Walsh allowed Reagan to answer questions in writing, that was in large part because aides had testified that the president was mostly unaware of illegal activity, and Walsh “concluded that President Reagan’s conduct fell well short of criminality which could be successfully prosecuted,” according to his final report.
“The focus of the investigation was not criminal conduct by President Reagan,” Barrett said. In this case, however, Trump is very much a focus—from his campaign’s relationships with Russia to his own financial dealings to, perhaps most prominently, whether he obstructed justice.
“The president’s conduct is a subject of this investigation,” Barrett said. “My guess is Mueller would not be satisfied with written interrogatory.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/will-he-or-wont-he-talk-to-mueller/552653/
