Donald Trump’s lawyer claims the president is “very eager” to sit down with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and discuss the ongoing Russia investigation.
Speaking to CBS News correspondent Major Garrett for the podcast “The Takeout,” attorney Ty Cobb said Trump “wants to put the matter to rest,” adding that there were currently “active discussions” about a possible meeting between the president and Mueller’s team.
The statement from Cobb came after the White House spent weeks dancing around the issue, with Trump repeatedly refusing to give a straight answer on whether he’d agree to an interview.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said last Wednesday as he lambasted the investigation as a “Democrat hoax.” Days before, Trump suggested that he would meet with Mueller if asked, then he immediately deflected the question.
Mueller has informed Trump’s legal team that he would likely seek an interview with the president for his investigation, The Washington Post reported.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that his campaign did not collude with Russia.
“For 11 months, they’ve had this phony cloud over this administration, over our government, and it has hurt our government,” Trump said during a news conference last week, referring to the probe. “It’s a Democrat hoax that was brought up as an excuse for losing an election.”
This week, former White House strategist Steve Bannon reportedly agreed to an interview with Mueller after he was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury. Bannon, who reportedly struck a deal with the special counsel, could be interviewed as early as this month, per NBC News.
On the “Takeout” podcast, Cobb said he expected Mueller’s investigation to conclude in the next four to six weeks. However, the attorney has been off the mark on this topic in the past, New York magazine noted. Cobb told Reuters last August that he’d be “embarrassed if this [probe] is still haunting the White House by Thanksgiving and worse if it’s still haunting him by year end.”
As it stands, the Russia investigation could continue to dominate headlines through the 2018 midterm elections.
