U.S. President Donald Trump’s new chief lawyer said on Thursday that if his client agrees to an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, it should be limited to a few hours and focus on Russian tampering in the 2016 election.
Asked what questions might be appropriate, the lawyer Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor, suggested two to Reuters: “Was there some agreement with the Russians? Was there any meeting of Trump with the Russians?”
A former federal prosecutor, Giuliani said he was the president’s new chief counsel in the Russia investigation but that he would also keep an eye on a U.S. inquiry into a $130,000 hush payment by longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen to a porn star who said she had a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
Giuliani said he wanted any Trump interview with Mueller to be limited in time and scope, suggesting for only 2-1/2 hours and not under oath.
In addition to the Russia questions, Giuliani said investigators could ask about possible obstruction of justice related to Trump’s firing a year ago of then-FBI Director James Comey.