Trump's legal team reportedly told investigators that Trump did not obstruct justice by firing James Comey
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
In one June memo, Trump's lawyers reportedly argued that the president has full authority, granted by the Constitution, to hire or fire whomever he wants, and therefore did not obstruct justice.
Another memo expressed doubt that Comey would be a reliable witness, accusing him of being prone to exaggeration, providing unreliable congressional testimony, and leaking information to reporters, according to the Journal.
In response, White House special counsel Ty Cobb told the newspaper that the Trump administration has "great respect for the special counsel."
"Out of respect for his process we will not be discussing incremental responses," Cobb said.
Mueller and his team are investigating potential collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russian operatives during the 2016 election. The memos and meetings between Trump's legal team and the special counsel are the first glimpse into the sweeping, secretive investigation since Mueller was appointed by the Department of Justice following Comey's firing.
According to the Journal, Mueller did not respond to the memo that declared Trump had not obstructed justice by firing Comey, nor did he respond to the argument questioning Comey's reliability as a witness.
One legal expert told the Journal that such interactions between Trump's legal team and Mueller were not out of the ordinary.
"Your objective is to find out what they've got and get ahead of them," Julie Rose O'Sullivan, a Georgetown Law professor who worked on the independent counsel investigation into President Bill Clinton's Whitewater scandal, told the Journal. "You definitely want some contact so you get a sense of where it's going and take their temperature."
- RBI Governor Das discusses ways to scale up UPI ecosystem with stakeholders
- People find ChatGPT to have a better moral compass than real humans, study reveals
- TVS Motor Company net profit rises 15% to ₹387 crore in March quarter
- Canara Bank Q4 profit rises 18% to ₹3,757 crore
- Indegene IPO allotment – How to check allotment, GMP, listing date and more
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market