Trump wary of Mueller ‘perjury trap’

President Donald Trump told Reuters Monday that answering questions for special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation could result in perjury charges against him. The president did not say whether he would agree to be interviewed for the probe, only that he had reservations about it. Mueller is investigating whether Trump obstructed justice and whether his campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told NBC on Sunday that Mueller’s design in interviewing Trump could be a “perjury trap.”

In his interview with Reuters, the president said investigators could compare his statements to those of other witnesses, such as fired FBI Director James Comey, to pinpoint discrepancies: “If I say something and he says something, and it’s my word against his … he’s best friends with Mueller, so Mueller might say: ‘Well, I believe Comey,’ and even if I’m telling the truth, that makes me a liar. That’s no good.”

Giuliani also expressed concerns about Comey: “Donald Trump says, ‘I didn’t talk about Flynn with Comey.’ Comey says, ‘You did talk about it.’ So tell me what the truth is.” Giuliani’s remarks landed him in hot water when he said on the air that “truth isn’t truth.” He later clarified he meant “the classic ‘he said, she said’ puzzle.”

The president continued his criticism of the Mueller investigation on Twitter Monday: “Where’s the Collusion? They made up a phony crime called Collusion … If you FIGHT BACK or say anything bad about the Rigged Witch Hunt, they scream Obstruction!”