Sekulow: Trump will decide whether he sits down with Mueller
Trump attorney Jay Sekulow tells Sean Hannity that although there is no constitutional basis for the special counsel to interview President Turmp, ultimately the decision is up to the president.
President Trump's legal team is engaging in "ongoing discussions" with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team on a potential sit-down involving the president and federal investigators, Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said in an interview on Fox News' "Hannity" on Tuesday.
But Sekulow added that while the decision is ultimately up to Trump, he was strongly leaning against granting Mueller access to the president.
"Frankly it is the position of the legal team, and it's been pretty clear on this, is that there's not a constitutional basis to move an interview forward," he said.
Sekulow cited several concerns with Mueller's probe, saying it was initiated in part because of the unverified DNC-funded Steele Dossier and what he described as politically motivated leaks by fired FBI Director James Comey.
"The depth of corruption that led to this investigation, and that frankly continues to permeate this investigation, is unprecedented," Sekulow told Sean Hannity.
Sekulow also raised constitutional concerns with any federal investigation into alleged obstruction of justice by Trump, saying it was "inappropriate" to pursue criminal charges against a president for exercising his inherent constitutional powers, such as firing an FBI director.
"If you look at the constitutional issues that are implicated by an interview, it's very serious," Sekulow said. "It raises very serious constitutional issues that go to the heart of the separation of powers, and [the president's] Article II authority."
SEKULOW BLAMES 'BAD INFORMATION' FOR MIXUP ON TRUMP TOWER MEETING
Sekulow's comments echoed those by fellow Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who last month said Mueller could not compel Trump's cooperation through a subpoena because federal investigators could not show the requisite need for his testimony.
On Sunday, Sekulow blamed "bad information" for erroneously denying the president had a role in drafting his campaign's response to a key June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower.
Donald Trump Jr., his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort were known to have attended the meeting with Kremlin-linked attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya.
An initial July 2017 statement, dictated by President Trump and issued by Trump Jr. immediately after the meeting came to light, read in part: "We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago." The statement made no mention of Trump officials seeking damaging information on Hillary Clinton, which Trump later suggested was in fact the point of the meeting.
Mueller's team reportedly is looking into the president's actions concerning the meeting, and his tweets.
But Sekulow told Hannity that Mueller's actions could have lasting negative ramifications on presidential authority and democracy itself.
"This is not a trial. This is a political process that is going forward," Sekulow said. "The constitutional issues ... in fact are the major issues that this investigation turns on. There are serious constitutional implications not just for this president, but for the presidency, and that's what history will remember."
Sekulow, however, declined to say whether Trump would declassify and release Justice Department and FBI documents currently sought by House investigators through subpoenas related to possible anti-Trump bias and the Russia probe.
"He's respecting the process that's in place; that's not the decision we make as his private lawyers -- we're not the White House Counsel," Sekulow said. "That decision I'm sure is being discussed."
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