Secret CIA source claims Russia rigged 2016 election

The thing is, the interview with Steele took place in the UK… I find it kind of strange that the FBI can force people in other countries to tell them the truth. I mean, I guess? But it seems weird? Like there would be some limit on the jurisdiction or something.

If that’s the reason it sure doesn’t seem to violate the statute that the Senate can accuse him of.

Agreed. If he was in the US, I suppose slander and/or libel would be the thing. But while in another country? I guess White House lawyers are just waiting on the character assassination claims to come in from the DPRK and then they’ll be shipping Trump off to Pyongyang to stand trial.

Doesn’t matter. As long as Sarah Sanders and Fox & Friends can say Steele is ‘under investigation,’ the mission is accomplished.

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a criminal act.

By this logic, the only people that matter are trump supporters.

For Trump’s purposes, that is correct. He depends on the loyal support of his base. As long as he has that, the lickspittles in Congress will continue to support him.

Actually, I’d argue they don’t matter, at least in a technical sense, because nothing he does changes their opinion of him,

Could be awkward.

I mean I love the idea of Mueller having Trump under oath, but if you’re the President’s lawyers, why in the world would you agree to this? What good could come of it?

Not getting impeached by a potentially democratic congress in 2019?

Yeah, but how does going under oath help with that? They have no idea what Mueller knows.

Effectively, it’s very likely he’s going to have to anyways, and maybe publicly. Better to do it when he can set the rules, and in private, than when his opponents do so in public.

Plus, the optics of refusing can be damning in the political world.

“It depends on what the definition of ‘pussy’ is.”

Trump is narcissistic enough to think he can fool, cajole or otherwise convince Mueller that he’s innocent. There’s a fair chance that Trump actually believes he is innocent – I would bet his rationalization and self-delusion skills are galactic class.

It sounds like one thing they are trying to get is for Mueller to submit questions ahead of time, and for them to be able to give written responses, avoiding Trump’s biggest weakness which is opening his mouth.

Yeah, but Mueller would be a fool to say anything but “I accept your offer of a written interview, but it does not diminish my need for one in-person and under-oath.”

Yeah, I don’t really see Mueller agreeing to it, unless he still gets face-to-face time with no restrictions on what he can ask about. Would love to see Trump try to keep his story aligned with the written responses.

I’m picturing this like one of those episodes of Criminal Minds where they put an attractive woman with female authority issues in the room to throw the serial killer off balance.

Bonus points if she’s not white. Between racism, misogyny and however much of a boner he can still summon, he’d have no chance at rational answers.