For a man who’s famous for loving the sound of his own voice, Donald Trump didn’t seem too eager to chat with Robert Mueller late last year, when the question first came up. But with this President, you never know from one day to the next what you are going to get. And today it looks like Trump has changed his tune.
In an “unplanned” Q&A with reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the President said that he is willing to talk to Special Counsel Robert Mueller under oath. As a follow-up, his attorneys release information meant to show how “cooperative” Trump and his staff have been.
Trump lawyers detail cooperation w Mueller:
20 WH staff, including 8 in counsel's office, have talked to Mueller and Hill
17 campaign staff and 11 others have spoken w Mueller and Hill
WH provided 20K pages to Mueller, including:
5K pages about Flynn
8K pages about Comey— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 25, 2018
Why agree to a Mueller interview and release this information now? White House insiders have said that the president doesn’t think speaking to Mueller is that big of a deal, as he believes he’s done nothing wrong. But it is just as likely that the White House is moving to shape public perception at a time when the special counsel’s investigation appears to be entering a new and escalating phase. Last week, Mueller reportedly spoke with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former FBI Director James Comey and subpoenaed Steve Bannon. There is also speculation that Rick Gates, a business associate of former campaign chair Paul Manafort, is negotiating with Mueller’s team. With the special counsel expected to set up an interview with Trump in a couple of weeks, it is possible the president is trying to get ahead of the story by downplaying it.
Mueller has quietly moved closer to those around Trump by interviewing Coats, Rogers, Sessions and Comey in recent weeks, officials say https://t.co/VDFukgN8l6 pic.twitter.com/upCTSF15el
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) January 25, 2018
Meanwhile, The Hill is reporting that Mueller’s office sent Trump’s attorneys a list of topics that would be covered if and when Trump goes before his team. For those eager to get to the bottom of the Russia story, the prospect of seeing the President raise his right hand before Mueller now seems like a stunning development and incredibly inevitable. And for many, it can’t happen a moment too soon.