President Trump is likely to be interviewed in some capacity by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to reports.
There are discussions among Trump’s legal team on how the president could be interviewed, according to the Washington Post and NBC News on Monday.
Mueller brought up the issue of interviewing Trump during a meeting in late December with the president’s lawyers, the Post reported.
An interview could take place within the “next several weeks,” a person “close to the president” told the Post.
“This is moving faster than anyone really realizes,” the person said, adding that the president is comfortable participating in an interview and believes it would put to rest questions over whether his team coordinated with Russia during the 2016 election.
Trump’s attorneys are reportedly reluctant to allow him to sit down for an open-ended, face-to-face questioning without clear parameters.
Options could include written answers to some questions. Mueller’s team would also have to demonstrate that it could not obtain the information they are seeking without interviewing the president.
Ty Cobb, the lawyer overseeing the White House’s response to the Russia investigation, told the Post he remains confident any portion of the investigation related to the president or the White House will wrap up shortly.
A special counsel interview with the president was long expected, since investigators are reportedly investigating his decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey, as well as his reported role in drafting a statement about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer.
Trump on Saturday said he had nothing to hide.
“Just so you understand, there’s been no collusion, there’s been no crime, and in theory everybody tells me I’m not under investigation. Maybe Hillary [Clinton] is, I don’t know, but I’m not,” he told reporters at Camp David.
“But we have been very open. We could have done it two ways. We could have been very closed, and it would have taken years. But you know, sort of like when you’ve done nothing wrong, let’s be open and get it over with,” he said.
“Because, honestly, it’s very, very bad for our country,” he added. “It’s making our country look foolish. And this is a country that I don’t want looking foolish. And it’s not going to look foolish as long as I’m here.”
Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford have all testified to special counsels or grand juries.
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