If former independent counsel Ken Starr were President Trump's attorney, would he let him sit down with special counsel Robert Mueller?
"I don't know all the facts … but I would advise him of the risks," he says. https://t.co/DDsfjkZZTu pic.twitter.com/HWbWb9Jl3A
— New Day (@NewDay) February 9, 2018
Former independent counsel Ken Starr says that if he were President Trump’s attorney he would advise Trump about the risks he faces by sitting down with Robert Mueller, the special counsel in charge of the investigation into Russian election meddling.
In an interview with CNN, Starr warned that Trump’s counsel should advise him of the pitfalls that await him in a possible interview with the special counsel.
“This is very serious, this is not a press conference,” Starr said Friday. “The risks are extraordinarily high.”
{mosads}
“I don’t know all the facts [that Robert Mueller knows about the case] … but I would advise him of the risks,” he added.
Starr, who served as an independent counsel in Republicans’ investigation into President Clinton’s Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals, added that there’s a chance Trump could be subpoenaed, however, if he chooses not to speak with Mueller.
If he avoided a subpoena, Starr warned that Trump could face litigation and it could potentially go as far as the Supreme Court.
He said last month that a meeting between Trump and Mueller in the near future is “probable.”
“He needs to, in order to round out, complete his investigation, to come to a decision,” Starr said on CNN last month.
“He needs to look the president in the eye and ask the appropriate questions.”
Trump’s legal team is reportedly exploring the possibility that the president will sit down with the special counsel to be questioned on his firing of FBI Director James Comey and drafting of a statement defending his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., over a meeting with Russians in Trump Tower during the presidential race.
“I’m looking forward to it,” the president said last month when asked if he would be speaking with the special counsel.
“I would do it under oath,” he added. “I couldn’t have cared less about Russians having to do with my campaign. The fact is — you people won’t say this but I’ll say it — I was a much better candidate than [Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton].”