President Trump‘s attorney Rudy Giuliani is claiming that the president’s legal team may invoke executive privilege to stop special counsel Robert Mueller‘s final report on the Russia investigation from being released to the public.
Giuliani told The New Yorker that it’s likely the Trump administration would object to the memo being made public information.
“I’m sure we will,” he said, before adding that Trump would make the final call on a decision like that.
Giuliani made the comments in reference to the impending report that Mueller will file to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at the conclusion of his investigation into Russian election interference.
The New Yorker notes that Rosenstein will then have the ability to release the report to Congress and the public. But Giuliani has signaled that the president may move to stop that from happening — a development that could lead to a battle over whether Rosenstein is allowed to disclose the report. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]The months-long dance between President Trump’s lawyers and Robert Mueller over a voluntary presidential interview has yet to bear fruit, raising the question of whether the special counsel will subpoena the president to testify as part of his Russia probe.
Those who know Mueller professionally say he would not hesitate to compel Trump to testify under oath before a grand jury if he considered it critical that his investigation include testimony from the commander in chief.
Still, such a move would carry risks for both sides, agitating tensions between the White House and the special counsel’s office and potentially triggering a legal battle that could lead all the way to the Supreme Court.
Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor who has been closely watching the investigation, said that Mueller would subpoena Trump only if he “believes he has exhausted all other options and if he really thinks it is necessary.”
“Before you subpoena the president you want to make sure you have every single duck in a row,” Vladeck said.- READ MORE
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