Trump Might Be Too Busy to Talk to Robert Mueller, Says Lawyer

[babylonsister]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/trump-might-be-too-busy-to-talk-to-mueller-says-lawyer.html

February 26, 2018 8:34 am
Trump Might Be Too Busy to Talk to Robert Mueller, Says Lawyer
By Jonathan Chait


President Trump’s lawyers have long insisted that, despite his public promise to testify to Robert Mueller, their client should not do so because he is a compulsive liar (e.g., the New York Times one month ago: “His lawyers are concerned that the president, who has a history of making false statements and contradicting himself, could be charged with lying to investigators.”). His unstoppable lying is akin to a handicap. Forcing him to speak in circumstances where lying is a crime would be like forcing wheelchair-bound Franklin Roosevelt to dunk a basketball.

Perhaps reconsidering the merits of this defense, Trump’s legal brain trust is floating two new rationales for why he cannot submit to an open interview. “It would be a travesty to waste his (Mr. Trump’s) time and to set a precedent which would cripple a future president,” a Trump lawyer tells The Wall Street Journal.

Everybody surely appreciates Trump’s previously undetectable concern for the long-term well-being of the institution he has been trashing. But the second objection, the one about wasting time, seems fairly easy to respond to. While Trump may be terribly busy with his regimen of document study, he also spends four to eight hours per day watching television. A Mueller interview might be scheduled for one of the president’s eight-hour television days, so even if the interview took as long as four hours, it would still leave him free for a robust level of screen time. Indeed, Mueller could even talk to the president while the TV was on, so if Trump grew bored with either the questioning or the shows, he could toggle his attention from one to the other.

It really seems like the scheduling issue is something Trump could work around, unless somehow he has some other reason to avoid Mueller.

[PatSeg]

1. First big laugh of the day

"Trump might be too busy."

[exboyfil]

2. Mueller and stenographer are willing to follow him around the golf course

[CrispyQ]

7. That was my first thought, too!

Great minds.

[shraby]

3. Since Clinton and Bush were interviewed, it hardly sets a precedent of any kind.

[marylandblue]

11. Even more, they set the precedent that the Pres can testify

But they both negotiated for special conditions. unfortunately for Trump's lawyers, no set of special conditions will protect him from himself.

[dalton99a]

4. Eating takes time, too

Not just watching television. He is a busy chief executive

[Wounded Bear]

5. Yeah, the FBI lets suspects out of interviews for their tee time every day...

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. Don't forget his very important

"Executive Time"!

[Freethinker65]

8. Does Mueller golf?

Or perhaps they could have a chat by the television when Fox News is on? Or how about just tweeting back and forth while Trump is alone on his golden commode?

[rsdsharp]

16. He does.

Donnie Dumbass claimed Mueller had a conflict of interest because he resigned from a Trump country club over a fees dispute.

[enough]

9. So little time and so much TV to watch and tweets to tweet.

[spanone]

10. He's never too busy to talk to Putin.

[Thomas Hurt]

12. Well, between golf, tv, tweeting, and his executive time with his "Touch Myself" folders.....

who has time to talk to a special counsel.

[smirkymonkey]

13. Busy!? He does nothing but watch TV, tweet, eat and golf.

Absolutely nothing!

[kentuck]

14. Drop kick me, Jesus!

[Atticus]

15. Skip your "executive (snicker!) time" for a couple of days. Problem solved! nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. That's almost as funny as his claim that he'd have run unarmed into the school.

Maybe they could do it on a rainy weekend when he can't play golf.

[lindysalsagal]

18. Put Mueller on Fox & Friends, and 45 can tweet his replies.

[Horizens]

19. ENOUGH !

SUBPOENA the S.O.B.