SLIPPERY

Report: Trump Is Seeking to Avoid Direct Mueller Interview

Internal discussions by president’s legal team began after Manafort indictment in October.

President Trump’s legal team has been discussing how he could avoid an interview with the FBI or special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators as part of the probe into Russian meddling in during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a new report from NBC News. Such internal discussions reportedly began just after Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager for Trump, was indicted in October for money laundering. Trump’s team is said to be considering sending written responses or an affidavit instead of Trump having a formal face-to-face sitdown with investigators. It remains unclear whether Mueller would ask to interview Trump directly, but sources who worked in the Justice Department cast serious doubt on any possibility that Mueller would ever give up the opportunity to interview Trump directly. “Prosecutors want to see and hear folks in person,” former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg told NBC News.