 WASHINGTON — Lawyers for President Trump have advised him against sitting down for a wide-ranging interview with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, according to four people briefed on the matter, raising the specter of a monthslong court battle over whether the president must answer questions under oath. Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's attorneys are trying to sway him against agreeing to an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller partially out of concern he might incriminate himself through false statements and could be charged with lying to investigators, The New York Times reported Monday evening.
– President Trump has claimed he would "love to" be interviewed under oath by special counsel Robert Mueller and that he's "looking forward" to it. His lawyers, however, are worried that Trump will make false statements, potentially leading to a charge of lying to investigators, and have urged him to turn down any interview request, the New York Times reports, citing "four people briefed on the matter." Rebuffing the interview might lead to a subpoena and a legal battle that could go all the way to the Supreme Court, but lawyers including John Dowd, who's representing Trump in the investigation, believe Mueller won't be willing to subpoena Trump and force him into a showdown, the insiders say. White House lawyer Ty Cobb supports full cooperation with Mueller's investigation, but he's outnumbered by opponents, the Times' sources say. Newt Gingrich is among those close to Trump who have publicly said that he should reject any request to be questioned. "The idea of putting Trump in a room with five or six hardened, very clever lawyers, all of whom are trying to trick him and trap him, would be a very, very bad idea," Gingrich said on Fox and Friends recently. CNN reports that Trump's team is arguing that Mueller hasn't reached the "high threshold" of evidence he would need to have Trump interviewed. (Trump has to decide whether to release a Democrat-authored memo on the Russia investigation.)