Sekulow: Obstruction of justice by tweet is absurd
President Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow on Sunday blasted special counsel Robert Mueller’s review of the president’s tweets for possible obstruction of justice, calling it “absurd.”
“Obstruction of justice by tweet is absurd,” Sekulow said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The president has a First Amendment right to put his opinions out there.”
“This theory that’s being bandied around that you can have an obstruction case by tweet — and by the way, [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions and Bob Mueller and all of them, the entire Department of Justice are under what? The Article II branch of government,” he continued.
“And that’s why I go back to saying that at the end of the day this is all about the Constitution. … If it went to court, that would be the question that the courts would be addressing. Someone can make an allegation of obstruction, those are Article II powers and a very compelling case.”{mosads}
Sekulow’s comments come as the president escalates his attack on Mueller’s probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!” Trump tweeted last Wednesday, prompting questions over whether he was issuing a direct order to Sessions or merely stating his “opinion.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later sought to dismiss concerns that the president’s tweet should be taken as a directive.
“It’s not an order. It’s the president’s opinion,” Sanders told reporters during a press briefing later that day. “The president is not obstructing. He is fighting back,” she added.
Both Sekulow and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani had previously told The Washington Post that the president “uses tweets to express his opinion.”
The dismissal of Trump’s tweets by his administration and close allies comes after The New York Times reported that Mueller is particularly interested in investigating Trump’s tweets about Sessions, former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Trump’s legal team is deciding whether Trump should sit down with Mueller for an interview as part of his investigation, though the team has said it would only sit if Mueller agreed to rule out questions about obstruction of justice.
Sekulow said Sunday that the legal team’s “inclination” is for Trump not to sit down for an interview.