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."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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