ELECTION/POLLS/ROBERT MUELLER/RUDY GIULIANI/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Rudy Giuliani may have just set up a midterm election showdown. President Donald Trump’s lawyer insisted Wednesday [8-8-18] that his latest proposal in the long-running tussle with special counsel Robert Mueller over an interview with the President was designed to shield the investigation from the political overhang of November’s polls. But the latest gambit will almost certainly have an effect opposite to ending the showdown over Trump’s proposed testimony quickly. That’s because although the terms of the offer were not disclosed, it appeared to come with conditions that legal experts say will be almost impossible for the special counsel to accept. So Mueller will be left to decide whether to carry on increasingly futile negotiations, to end his investigation without talking to the President directly or to force his testimony with a subpoena, a move that will prolong the standoff and may even reach the Supreme Court. Those deliberations, any of which will have significant political blowback, will unfold as the midterm election campaign hits high gear and as multiple other legal challenges buffet the White House — including the current trial of Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.”
–Stephen Collinson, “Trump-Mueller negotiations threaten to hang over midterm elections,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 9, 2018 6:07 pm