The special counsel has told President Trump’s legal team that he won’t indict a sitting president, according to Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s lawyers.
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller has told President Donald Trump’s legal team that he won’t indict a sitting president, according to Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s lawyers.
« They (the special counsel) acknowledge the fact that they can’t indict us, » Giuliani told NBC News on Wednesday, indicating that the information had been conveyed to Trump’s lawyers. « They know they don’t have that power. So their function is to write a report. We would like it to be the fairest report possible. But even if it isn’t, we’re prepared to rebut it in great detail so we’d like them to do it. »
He added, « It’s as clear as can be that they don’t have the right to indict under the Justice Department rules. And I know they’re not going to indict. »
Related: All of President Trump’s tweets about the Mueller probe
During the final months of the Clinton administration in 2000, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said in a memo that « the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting president would be unconstitutional. »
Neal Katyal, acting solicitor general in the administration of former President Barack Obama — the administration’s top courtroom lawyer — wrote the current special counsel regulations as a young lawyer in Clinton’s Justice Department in 1999. They specify that a special counsel « shall comply » with the policies of the Justice Department, for whom Mueller works.
Katyal said on MSNBC’s « The Beat With Ari Melber » in February that means that Mueller is bound by the 2000 Justice Department memo but that he « can seek exceptions. »
« This old opinion from 20 years ago does preclude, in general, the Justice Department from indicting a sitting president for constitutional reasons, » Katyal said. « But an exception can be given. »
Giuliani also suggested to NBC News on Wednesday that Mueller may not need to interview Trump.
« I don’t think they need an interview, particularly if the interview is only for the purpose of giving explanations again that the president has already given, » he said.
The president’s lawyer said Mueller’s office has not responded to questions that Trump’s team has about a possible interview. Giuliani says those inquiries included questions such as, « Why do they need an interview, what kind of questions, when are you going to resolve the investigation, show us the authority. »
Giuliani told NBC News on Tuesday that he has spoken by phone with lawyers for the special counsel’s office and said talks about a potential presidential interview are in a « holding pattern. »
On Wednesday, Giuliani also called on Mueller ahead of the one-year mark of the investigation on Thursday to « get it over with. »
The special counsel had no comment on Giuliani’s comments.
