Mueller reportedly raised possibility of subpoena for Trump


During a meeting with members of President Trump's legal team on March 5, Special Counsel Robert Mueller told them that if Trump declined to speak with federal investigators, he could issue a subpoena for the president to appear before a grand jury, four people with knowledge of the encounter told The Washington Post.
John Dowd, at the time Trump's lead personal lawyer, then erupted, the Post reports, telling Mueller this "isn't some game. You are screwing with the work of the president of the United States." In the aftermath of the meeting, Trump's lawyers debated how to move forward, with Dowd ultimately resigning, and Mueller's team agreed to give Trump's attorneys more details on the topics prosecutors wanted to discuss with the president. One of Trump's lawyers, Jay Sekulow, then put together a list of 49 questions he believed Trump would be asked, three people told the Post, which included queries about the firings of former FBI Director James Comey and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Those questions were obtained by The New York Times, and published Monday.
Sekulow and Dowd both declined to comment to the Post, but Dowd confirmed to The Associated Press that Mueller's team had raised the possibility of forcing Trump to testify. Since the meeting, Trump ally Rudy Giuliani had joined his legal team, and Giuliani told the Post on Tuesday he has a "totally open mind on what the right strategy is, which we'll develop in the next few weeks."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - May 10, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and more
-
5 streetwise cartoons about defunding PBS
Cartoons Artists take on immigrant puppets, defense spending, and more
-
Dark chocolate macadamia cookies recipe
The Week Recommends These one-bowl cookies will melt in your mouth
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment