Donald Trump’s lawyers have said that Trump cannot, and will not, agree to be interview by Robert Mueller’s special counsel until they learn more about the secret FBI informant that spoke to the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential race, according to The Huffington Post.
The Huffington Post obtained their information from a conversation with Rudy Giuliani, a member of Trump’s legal team. “I don’t care so much about the name as I do about the content. What prompted them to do it? What did they learn from it?” Giuliani said about the situation.
This comes during other tensions between the Trump administration and the Department of Justice.
I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes – and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2018
Trump and Mueller have been at odds since the start of the probe in Russian influence on the 2016 presidential race. The Washington Post reported that Mueller is willing to subpoena information from Trump if it comes to that, and Trump has taken to Twitter to express his frustrations.
So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were “leaked” to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see…you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2018
It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2018
Politico notes that despite the tensions, even firing Mueller would not stop the Russia investigation. Former FBI Director James Comes said that firing Mueller “would be utterly ineffective in practice” and “won’t make a difference.”
Even if Mueller was fired, the information he gathered could still get out. According to Politico, he could just self-publish his findings if the situation comes to that.
Steps have not yet been taken to reduce the tensions between the administration and the investigation, but it’s clear that neither side is ready to give in to the pressure of the other.