2016 ELECTION/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump laid out for the special counsel his defense in the investigation into possible ties between his associates and Russia’s election interference, the president’s lawyers said in a statement on Tuesday [11-10-18]. The details of Mr. Trump’s responses were not immediately clear, but his lawyers said that now that he had handed over answers to questions from the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, the time had come to end the investigation…After months of negotiations about a possible presidential interview, Mr. Mueller allowed Mr. Trump to respond in writing to questions about whether any of his associates conspired with Moscow’s campaign of disruption. Mr. Mueller has declined to rule out trying to compel Mr. Trump to sit for an interview after reviewing his written answers. Without the answers themselves, it is difficult to gauge the significance of Mr. Trump’s responses. In at least one iteration early this year, the special counsel’s questions on interference touched on his advisers’ contacts with Russia and appeared aimed at what Mr. Trump knew about them.”
–Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Answers Mueller’s Questions on Russian Interference,” The New York Times online, November 20, 2018