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Trump Sidesteps Question on Mueller Interview Trump Sidesteps Question on Mueller Interview
(about 5 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday declined to commit to being interviewed by the special counsel investigating whether his campaign colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election, backing off a promise he made last year to talk to Robert S. Mueller III under oath. WASHINGTON — President Trump declined on Wednesday to commit to being interviewed by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating whether his campaign colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election, backing off his statement last year that he would be willing to talk to Mr. Mueller under oath.
“I’ll speak to attorneys,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the East Room during a news conference with Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, when asked whether he would speak with Mr. Mueller without preconditions. “We’ll see what happens.” “I’ll speak to attorneys,” Mr. Trump said during a news conference with Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, when asked whether he would agree to an interview. “We’ll see what happens.”
The dodge was a marked change from last June, when Mr. Trump defended his firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, denying that it was related to his handling of the Russia investigation, and said he would “100 percent” be willing to give a sworn statement to Mr. Mueller. That answer was a marked change from June, when Mr. Trump defended his firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, denying that it was related to his handling of the Russia investigation, and said he would be “100 percent” willing to give a sworn statement to Mr. Mueller.
The president called Mr. Mueller’s probe and the ones being pursued by the Republican-led Congress a partisan “witch hunt” and a “Democrat hoax.” It came as the president’s advisers have been discussing whether Mr. Trump should submit to what would be an extraordinary but not unprecedented instance of a president being interviewed by a prosecutor investigating him for wrongdoing.
“For 11 months, they’ve had this phony cloud over this administration, over our government, and it has hurt our government,” Mr. Trump said. “When they have no collusion, and nobody’s found any collusion at any level, it seems unlikely that you’d even have an interview.” Mr. Trump also repeated his criticism of Mr. Mueller’s inquiry as a “witch hunt” and the investigations being pursued by congressional committees as a “Democrat hoax.” In a Twitter post, he referred to Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the Senate committee conducting an investigation into Russian interference, as “Sneaky Dianne Feinstein.”
Mr. Trump’s salvo punctuated an escalating war with congressional Democrats over the Russia investigations. On Wednesday morning, the president attacked Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, for releasing a transcript that was highly critical of Mr. Trump, and he demanded that Republicans “finally take control” of the probes. “For 11 months, they’ve had this phony cloud over this administration, over our government, and it has hurt our government,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s a Democrat hoax that was brought up as an excuse for losing an election.”
For their part, Senate Democrats released an extensive report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, saying that it fit into a nearly two-decade pattern of meddling with governments around the world. They charged that the United States’ response to Russia’s brazen attack has been hindered by Mr. Trump. The president was angry at Ms. Feinstein in particular for releasing a transcript of Senate testimony by one of the founders of the firm that produced a salacious and largely unsubstantiated dossier outlining a Russian effort to aid the Trump campaign, and he demanded that Republicans “finally take control” of the investigations.
The report is one of the most expansive to date on foreign interference by Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin. It tracks Russian efforts in 19 countries, chronicling misinformation campaigns, the funding of far-right political causes and the manipulation of energy supplies long before 2016 in an attempt to glean lessons for American officials considering how to counteract similar efforts here. Also on Wednesday, Senate Democrats released an extensive report concluding that Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election fit into a nearly two-decade pattern of meddling with governments around the world, and charging that Mr. Trump himself had hindered the United States response to a serious national security threat.
In total, the report offers more than 30 recommendations to safeguard the country’s electoral process and to work with allies, primarily in Europe, to establish new standards to address these types of threats. They include new sanctions to punish states that initiate cyberattacks on elections or critical infrastructure, an international summit meeting centered on such threats, an allied commitment of mutual defense against cyberattacks, as well as forcing social media companies to disclose the sources of funding for political ads.
But the report begins by calling on Mr. Trump to “assert presidential leadership” to establish a governmentwide response to the Russian efforts, including setting up an interagency center modeled after the National Counterterrorism Center to coordinate the American response to threats and policy related to their deterrence.
“Never before in American history has so clear a threat to national security been so clearly ignored by a U.S. president,” the report asserts.“Never before in American history has so clear a threat to national security been so clearly ignored by a U.S. president,” the report asserts.
Mr. Trump used Twitter and the news conference with Ms. Solberg to call the Russia investigations a “witch hunt.” Mr. Trump, in his remarks, repeated his often-stated assertion that he has essentially been cleared of colluding with Russia. “It has been determined that there’s been no collusion — and by virtually everybody,” he said. “When they have no collusion, and nobody’s found any collusion at any level, it seems unlikely that you’d even have an interview.”
“There was no collusion, everybody including the Dems knows there was no collusion, & yet on and on it goes,” he wrote on Twitter. “Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing.” In fact, the Senate Intelligence Committee and its House counterparts have not reached a conclusion on that question, which Mr. Mueller is also believed to be exploring, along with whether the president or his team obstructed justice in firing Mr. Comey.
Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee who commissioned the Democratic report, was no less blunt. The Democratic report on Russian interference looked at efforts of the government of President Vladimir V. Putin in 19 countries, and describes misinformation campaigns, the funding of far-right political causes and the manipulation of energy supplies long before 2016 in an attempt to glean lessons for American officials considering how to counteract similar efforts here.
In total, the report offers more than 30 recommendations to safeguard the country’s electoral process and to work with allies, primarily in Europe, to establish new standards to address these types of threats. They include new sanctions to punish states that initiate cyberattacks on elections or critical infrastructure, an international summit meeting centered on such threats, an allied commitment of mutual defense against cyberattacks, as well as forcing social media companies to disclose the sources of funding for political ads.
The document begins by calling on Mr. Trump to “assert presidential leadership” to establish a governmentwide response to the Russian efforts, including setting up an interagency center modeled after the National Counterterrorism Center to coordinate the American response to threats and policy related to their deterrence. And it argues that merely investigating what the Russians did in 2016 will be insufficient in protecting against future attacks, given their persistence.
Over all, the report argues that Mr. Putin’s rise and hold on power in Russia has depended on the use of force and the undermining of institutions at home and abroad. It points to successful actions taken by European nations, including Germany and Nordic countries, as models for counteracting Russian tools like disinformation and hacking.
Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, who commissioned the report, said it was not the investigations into Russia’s meddling but the president’s own inaction in the face of Moscow’s brazen attack that was harming the country.
“While President Trump stands practically idle, Mr. Putin continues to refine his asymmetric arsenal and look for future opportunities to disrupt governance and erode support for the democratic and international institutions,” he said.“While President Trump stands practically idle, Mr. Putin continues to refine his asymmetric arsenal and look for future opportunities to disrupt governance and erode support for the democratic and international institutions,” he said.
American spy agencies have concluded that Mr. Putin directed a multifaceted campaign using hacking and propaganda to try to sway the 2016 presidential election against Mr. Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, and, eventually, in favor of his campaign. United States spy agencies have concluded that Mr. Putin directed a multifaceted campaign using hacking and propaganda to try to sway the 2016 presidential election against the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, and, eventually, in favor of Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump’s response to those findings has varied. After Congress overwhelmingly passed new sanctions in August retaliating against Russia over a range of issues including the election interference, Mr. Trump was forced to sign the measure into law in spite of his own objections. In November, after speaking with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump said he believed that the Russian leader was sincere in his denials of interfering with the 2016 race.Mr. Trump’s response to those findings has varied. After Congress overwhelmingly passed new sanctions in August retaliating against Russia over a range of issues including the election interference, Mr. Trump was forced to sign the measure into law in spite of his own objections. In November, after speaking with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump said he believed that the Russian leader was sincere in his denials of interfering with the 2016 race.
On Wednesday, his wrath was aimed at Ms. Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, whom he called “Sneaky” for unilaterally releasing the transcript of the committee’s investigative interview with one of the founders of the firm that produced a salacious and largely unsubstantiated dossier outlining a Russian effort to aid the Trump campaign. He called her action “underhanded,” “possibly illegal” and a “disgrace.” But on Wednesday, Mr. Trump used Twitter and the news conference with Ms. Solberg to once again dismiss the Russia investigations as a politically motivated farce.
The new report released by Mr. Cardin does not seek to answer questions about that campaign, which is being studied closely by several congressional committees and a Justice Department special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, but tries to put it into context. The authors argue that merely investigating the 2016 effort will be insufficient to protecting against future attacks, given the versatility and persistence of Mr. Putin’s tool kit. “There was no collusion, everybody including the Dems knows there was no collusion, & yet on and on it goes,” he wrote on Twitter. “Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing.”
Over all, the report argues that Mr. Putin’s rise and hold on power in Russia has depended on the use of force and the undermining of institutions at home and abroad. It points to successful actions taken by European nations, including Germany and Nordic countries, as models for counteracting Russian tools like disinformation and hacking. In sidestepping the question of whether he would submit to an interview with Mr. Mueller, the president pointed to the circumstances surrounding the F.B.I. interview of Mrs. Clinton in the investigation of her use of a private email server.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have redoubled their efforts to draw attention to broad issues of election security and what they characterize as dangerous inaction by Republicans, who control all levels of government in Washington before this year’s midterms. “She wasn’t sworn in; she wasn’t given the oath; they didn’t take notes; they didn’t record,” Mr. Trump said. “That is perhaps ridiculous, and a lot of people looked upon that as being a very serious breach — and it really was.”
Six senior House Democrats from key committees wrote to Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday to accuse Republicans of putting Mr. Trump “ahead of our national interests” and to urge them to double down on the issue. Mrs. Clinton’s interview was a typical one for the F.B.I., which usually does not place people under oath because lying to the agency is a crime.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the panels investigating the 2016 campaign, plans to release its bipartisan report on election security in the coming weeks. The committee’s investigation of what role, if any, Mr. Trump’s campaign played in the Russian effort continues, but its top members have said they felt an urgency to provide at least preliminary findings that could make a difference in political races across the country. The most famous time a sitting president was interviewed by a special prosecutor was 20 years ago, when Bill Clinton, via closed-circuit television from the White House, testified for four hours under oath before a federal grand jury convened by Kenneth W. Starr.
Some of the recommendations in Wednesday’s report mirror legislative proposals by members of both parties. Those proposals have gained little traction on Capitol Hill, and authors of those reports conceded that without backing from Mr. Trump and his party, few of the measures they outlined stood a chance of being realized. His answers, including defending his assertion that he had not had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern, led to a damning report by Mr. Starr and prompted his impeachment by the Republican-led Congress on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.