DRASTIC MEASURES

Report: Trump’s Lawyers Ready for Court Battle Over His Testimony to Mueller

If their conditions for the president’s testimony in the Russia investigation are not met.

President Trump’s lawyers want to set the terms for his testimony before special counsel Robert Mueller, and they’re prepared to wage a court battle to shield him from testifying at all if their conditions aren’t met, The Wall Street Journal reports. Sources familiar with the situation told the Journal Trump’s legal team is currently considering various ways for him to testify that would prevent him from falling into a perjury trap. Some ideas under consideration are having the president provide written answers to Mueller or having him give only limited verbal responses, according to the report. “Everything is on the table,” one source was quoted as saying. While Trump previously expressed a willingness to testify in the ongoing Russia investigation—which has already secured indictments against four of his former aides—his lawyers have since expressed hesitation. Some of his lawyers have reportedly begun studying the legal groundwork that could either limit the scope of his testimony or spare him from it altogether, a move that experts say could lead to a years-long court showdown with Mueller.