Trump Just Blindsided Mueller
Corey Lewandowski, who served as Donald Trump's campaign manager during the 2016 primaries
has now told "Fox News Sunday" that President Trump's legal team, led by Mayor Rudy Guliani
has confirmed that they will take it Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his Democrat cronies
to court if they decide to subpoena him as part of the probe into Russian collusion.
"They will take it to court, and I believe the court's going to be on the president's
side on this," Lewandowski said Sunday.
Lewandowski was addressing the tense and protracted deliberations over a possible interview with
Mueller that some Republican allies have rightly warned could very well end up being a "perjury
trap."
Fox News revealed over the weekend that the president's legal team had gone as far as
to send a letter to Mueller in January claiming Trump could not be forced to testify.
And also that he could not have committed obstruction of justice because of his broad
authority as president.
But he also added that the president and his team are still willing to sit down to questions
with Mueller's team but they want to first determine the scope of the questions which
will be asked.
This would avoid a subpoena fight.
The former campaign manager did also stress that he believes the president would never
defy a court order because he respects the rule of law in this country too much to do
so.
Here is more on the investigation via Fox News:
"The investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election continues
– with Special Counsel Robert Mueller at its helm.
Mueller, 73, took over the federal government's probe into alleged collusion between President
Trump's campaign and Russian officials in May 2017.
Already, his investigation has led to charges for four Trump campaign associates, though
none of the charges are directly related to any misconduct by the president's campaign.
Trump has in the past expressed willingness to testify under oath as part of Mueller's
investigations and has repeatedly denied any "collusion" with Russians.
The Department of Justice announced the appointment of Mueller to oversee the federal investigation
into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election in May 2017.
The appointment came after a growing cry – mostly from Democrats – for someone outside the
Justice Department to handle the probe.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions had already recused himself from the investigation.
Mueller led the FBI through the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and served under presidential
administrations of both parties.
For the inquiry into the 2016 election, Mueller has the authority to prosecute any crimes
uncovered during this investigation, and he was given wide authority to investigate whether
Trump or his associates colluded with the Kremlin to win the White House.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, one focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's
investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, hides behind
a car visor as he leaves his home in Alexandria, Va., after being asked to surrender to federal
authorities.
(Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
In his leading role, Mueller took over an ongoing investigation into Paul Manafort's
financial dealings in Ukraine.
Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, and Richard Gates were indicted on Oct. 27
on multiple counts, including: conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money,
false statements and failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
Manafort and Gates initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Nearly four months later, on Feb. 22, the pair was hit with additional tax evasion and
bank fraud charges and the amount of money Manafort was accused of laundering through
offshore accounts increased to $30 million.
Gates pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false-statements charges on Feb. 23.
After the plea, Mueller moved to drop the 22 bank and tax fraud charges against Gates,
possibly suggesting that the former Trump campaign official is cooperating and providing
good information to Mueller's team.
Mueller also accused Manafort of secretly paying former European politicians to lobby
on behalf of Ukraine.
Manafort has continued to maintain his innocence, pleading not guilty to the charges in federal
court on March 8.
Michael Flynn, the administration's short-lived national security adviser, was charged in
December with lying to the FBI about certain conversations he had with a Russian ambassador.
He pleaded guilty.
Additionally, George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in 2017 to one count of making false
statements to investigating FBI agents, according to court documents.
Papadopoulos was a foreign policy adviser for Trump's campaign.
Alex van der Zwaan, an attorney, pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about Gates in the
Russia inquiry.
In April 2018, he was sentenced to 30 days in prison, making him the first to be sentenced
in the investigation.
Richard Pinedo, a California man who sold bank accounts to Russians meddling in the
election, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to using stolen identities to set up the accounts.
The U.S. government said Pinedo was not aware he was dealing with Russians when he sold
the accounts, however.
Three Russian entities and 13 Russian nationals were indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb.
16 for allegedly interfering in the election.
Mueller's case alleged those involved had a sophisticated plot to wage "information
warfare" on the U.S.
However, the Justice Department did not say the actions had an impact on the outcome of
the election.
Deputy Attorney Gen. Rod Rosenstein said, "There is no allegation in this indictment
that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity."
However, The New York Times has obtained questions Mueller has provided to Trump's lawyers
that he wants the president to answer.
The questions include information related to Flynn, Sessions, fired FBI Director James
Comey, former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe and his campaign's connections to Russia,
including the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting with Manafort, Donald Trump, Jr., the president's
oldest son and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
"So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were 'leaked' to
the media.
No questions on Collusion," Trump said in a tweet.
"Oh, I see … you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and
an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information.
Nice!"
The Trump administration has sharply criticized Mueller's investigation, as several of his
attorneys on staff donated to Democratic campaigns, including to Trump's 2016 rival, Hillary
Clinton.
Additionally, two FBI officials – Peter Strzok and Lisa Page – are under fire for
the anti-Trump text messages they exchanged during the election.
Strzok was part of Mueller's team but was removed after the text messages were revealed.
What has Trump said about Mueller's investigation? Trump has oftentimes dismissed the allegations
that he colluded with Russia during the election.
He said he is "looking forward" to eventually being questioned under oath by Mueller.
He's said the allegations are a "fake story that is demeaning to all of us and most
of all demeaning to our country and demeaning to our Constitution."
"I just hope the final determination is a truly honest one, which is what the millions
of people who gave us our big win in November deserve and what all Americans who want a
better future want and deserve," Trump said at a rally in West Virginia last year.
"I just hope the final determination is a truly honest one…"
– President Trump.
The president also warned Mueller to stay within certain boundaries as he investigates.
Trump and Mueller have sent messages "back and forth," according to Trump's outside
counsel.
A spokesman for Mueller told Fox News that the messages have been "very professional."
It's been over a year and Mueller and his associates still can't seem to be able to
find any wrongdoing by the President.
Maybe it's time to put a stop to this farce and go after the real criminals here, Hillary
and Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, the DNC and Obama's FBI
and
Justice Department!
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