Trump Says He Would Talk to Mueller Under Oath
‘You fight back, oh, it’s obstruction,’ president says
President Donald Trump said he would sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller — and do so under oath — as part of the Justice Department’s Russia election meddling probe.
“I would love to do it, and I would like to do it as soon as possible,” Trump told a group of reporters at the White House. “I would do it under oath, absolutely.”
In a remarkable back-and-forth that lasted about 14 minutes when the president popped into a meeting on immigration between White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and reporters, Trump also insinuated he is being investigated for obstruction of justice by Mueller because he “fought back” against claims his presidential campaign colluded with Russians.
“You fight back, oh, it’s obstruction,” Trump said.
A Trump-Mueller meeting could happen with the next two or three weeks, the president said, quickly adding it would be “subject to my lawyers.”
[WATCH: Immigration, Budget Talks on Hill Could Be Just That — A Lot of Talk]
Trump attacked the length of the DOJ probe, saying it has gone on too long and lightly questioning its validity over lost FBI mobile device text messages and slamming Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe over contributions his wife’s Virginia state senate campaign got from Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe.
He also denied asking McAbe who he voted for the 2016 presidential election.
“I don’t think I did,” he said. “I don’t know what’s the big deal with that. I would ask you who you voted for. . . . I don’t remember asking him that question.
“I think it’s also a very unimportant question,” he said, while criticizing 2016 Democratic opponent Clinton for not speaking to the FBI under oath when they were looking into her use of a personal email server while secretary of state.