Giuliani shuts down Mueller questions on obstruction

President Donald Trump will not answer questions about possible obstruction of justice from special counsel Robert Mueller in writing or in person, the president’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said Friday. Mueller is looking into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with them. He also is investigating whether Trump’s firing last year of FBI Director James Comey constituted obstruction of justice.

“There will be no questions at all on obstruction,” Giuliani said, calling the topic a no-go. Negotiations about the scope and format of a Mueller-Trump interview are ongoing and could result in the president being subpoenaed if they fail. The Supreme Court has never definitively ruled whether a president can be forced to testify, though the justices did say in 1974 that then-President Richard Nixon had to produce recordings and documents that had been subpoenaed.