Trump Submits Written Answers to Mueller

By Jordan Fabian, The Hill

21 November 18

resident Trump has submitted his written answers to certain questions related to the Russia investigation to special counsel Robert Mueller, the president's legal team announced Tuesday.

Trump's personal lawyer Jay Sekulow said the answers were submitted on Tuesday and cover "issues regarding the Russia-related topics of the inquiry."

The submission caps off months of high-stakes wrangling between Mueller's team and the president's lawyers about what answers Trump would provide for investigators.

Trump's attorneys have long maintained they would only answer questions pertaining to allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, and not inquiries about whether Trump obstructed the federal investigation into the interference.

Rudy Giuliani, another Trump lawyer, has repeatedly expressed fear that the president could walk into a perjury trap if he answers Mueller's questions about the firing of James Comey as FBI director and what he told the ex-lawman about the bureau's investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"It has been our position from the outset that much of what has been asked raised serious constitutional issues and was beyond the scope of a legitimate inquiry," Giuliani said. "This remains our position today."

The former New York City mayor said Trump has "nonetheless provided unprecedented cooperation" to Mueller's office, including more than 30 witnesses and 1.4 million pages of material.

"It is time to bring this inquiry to a conclusion," he said.

The president told reporters earlier Tuesday that the written answers were "all finished" and that his lawyers would be submitting them on his behalf.

"Finished them yesterday. The lawyers have them. I assume they'll turn them in today or soon," he said before leaving Washington to spend Thanksgiving with his family at his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida.

Trump answering questions for Mueller has widely been seen as one of the final steps of the Russia investigation, which the special counsel took over in May 2017.

The written answers, however, fall short of an in-person interview that Mueller's team sought for nearly a year. It remains unclear if Mueller will be satisfied by Trump's submission or if he will continue to seek an interview.

Mueller's office declined to comment.

Trump on Sunday strongly suggested he would not sit for an interview with Mueller, telling Fox News's Chris Wallace that "I think we’ve wasted enough time on this witch hunt and the answer is probably, we’re finished."