ROBERT MUELLER/RUDY GIULIANI/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A series of seemingly authoritative assertions in recent weeks about the shape and scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference has helped define it in the public eye, generating countless headlines and cable chyrons about the ongoing saga that has shadowed President Donald Trump’s White House. But none of those pronouncements about Mueller’s probe were made by Mueller. They were made by Rudy Giuliani, the president’s attorney, who has used a media blitz to frequently set — and later move — the goalposts of the investigation, making public declarations about the probe to color its perception among voters and lawmakers, all while confident that Mueller will never speak up to correct him. Among Giuliani’s declarations in the last month: that Mueller’s probe will end by Sept. 1 so as not to affect the midterm elections; that an interview with Trump will be limited and take place only under certain conditions; that prosecutors have ruled out indicting a sitting president. On Thursday [6-7-18] , he shifted expectations yet again, suggesting that Trump would not sit for an interview with investigators unless his legal team gets a firsthand look at the documents generated by an FBI informant who had contacts with the celebrity businessman’s Republican presidential campaign in 2016. Previously, Giuliani had said a briefing on the information would suffice.”
-Jonathan Lemire, “Who speaks for Robert Mueller? Rudy Giuliani is trying to,” The Associated Press, June 7, 2018 2:42 pm