Allies warn Trump against interview with Mueller: report

Some of President Trump’s advisers and friends are telling the president he shouldn’t sit for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller, CNN reported Thursday.

Trump team lawyers, White House insiders and friends are among those who have reportedly told Trump it would be unwise to talk to the special counsel, arguing that doing so could land the president in hot water politically or legally.

“I think the entire Mueller probe is infected by intractable bias. And the president only risks some inadvertent misstatement becoming a new national narrative by doing that,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told CNN.

{mosads}Gaetz is one of several Republican lawmakers who have accused Mueller of bias against the president after a former Mueller team member was revealed to have sent anti-Trump texts.

Others told CNN that Trump should cooperate with the Mueller probe, or place limitations on any potential interview.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) suggested Trump’s team answer Mueller’s questions in writing, while Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Trump’s lawyers should set limits on what would be covered in the interview.

Multiple reports this week said that Mueller is likely to interview Trump in the coming weeks as part of the special counsel investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential race.

Last summer, Trump said he’d be willing to commit to an interview with Mueller, but when asked again about the prospect on Wednesday, Trump dodged the question.

“We’ll see what happens,” the president said when pressed by a reporter on Wednesday. “When they have no collusion … it seems unlikely that you’d even have an interview.”

Mueller’s probe has led to two indictments and two guilty pleas thus far.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former associate, Richard Gates, were indicted on money laundering and tax fraud charges.

Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Trump campaign policy adviser George Papadopoulos have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.