September 4, 2018

Woodward: Trump’s Personal Attorney Told Mueller He Can’t Be Trusted

Details from the Watergate sleuth’s forthcoming Trump book leaked to CNN and the Washington Post.

Brian Cahn/Zuma

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Bob Woodward’s highly anticipated book about the Trump White House comes out on September 11, but today the internet is alive with leaked excerpts, some of which Kevin Drum wrote about here.

Via Sarah Posner, this bit from CNN also seems notable.

[Trump’s then-personal attorney John] Dowd and Trump’s current personal attorney Jay Sekulow went to Mueller’s office and re-enacted the mock interview. Their goal: to argue that Trump couldn’t possibly testify because he was incapable of telling the truth.
 
“He just made something up. That’s his nature,” Dowd said to Mueller.
That Trump lies constantly is taken for granted in this topsy-turvy world of ours. But the fact that, according to Woodward, Trump’s own lawyer told Mueller that the president can’t be trusted is astounding. 
The passage is an unprecedented glimpse behind the scenes of Mueller’s secretive operation — for the first time, Mueller’s conversations with Trump’s lawyers are captured.
 
“I need the president’s testimony,” Mueller said. “What was his intent on Comey? … I want to see if there was corrupt intent.”
Despite Dowd’s efforts, Trump continued to insist he could testify. “I think the President of the United States cannot be seen taking the fifth,” Trump said.
 
Dowd’s argument was stark: “There’s no way you can get through these. … Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jump suit.”
 
What he couldn’t say to Trump, according to Woodward, was what Dowd believed to be true: “You’re a fucking liar.”
Read more at CNN and WaPo.

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