2016 ELECTION/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s legal team has submitted a counteroffer to special counsel Robert Mueller on a possible interview with the president that could allow for questions about collusion with Russia but curtail inquiries related to obstruction of justice. As negotiations for such a sit-down are set to enter their eighth month, Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said Monday [7-23-18] that an interview between the special counsel and the president is ‘still on the table.’ The president’s legal team is open to him answering questions about possible collusion with Moscow, Mr. Giuliani said, but is less willing to have Mr. Trump discuss questions about obstruction of justice. ‘We think the obstruction of it is handled by Article 2 of the Constitution,’ Mr. Giuliani said, referring to the provision that gives the president executive authority to appoint and dismiss members of his administration. Mr. Mueller is investigating whether Trump associates colluded with Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election, and whether Mr. Trump sought to obstruct justice in the firing of former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey in May 2017, while the FBI’s Russia probe was under way. Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied collusion and obstruction, and Moscow has denied election interference.”
–Rebecca Ballhaus, “Donald Trump’s Legal Team Submits Counteroffer for Possible Interview in Mueller Probe,” The Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2018 6:42 pm