White House lawyer Ty Cobb told ABC News during an exclusive interview on Wednesday that a presidential interview with special counsel Robert Mueller has not been ruled out.
“It’s certainly not off the table and people are working hard to make decisions and work towards an interview,” Cobb told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein on ABC’s “Powerhouse Politics” podcast.
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“And assuming that can be concluded favorably, there’ll be an interview,” he said. “Assuming it can’t be… assuming an agreement can’t be reached, you know then it’ll go a different route.”
The interview comes after ABC News confirmed that the president’s legal team created a list of 49 questions based on the ongoing negotiations with Mueller’s team.
The questions are centered around areas believed to be what the special counsel would like to ask the president about. The story was first reported by the New York Times.
Cobb says he has “no doubt” special counsel Mueller didn’t leak the list of questions for President Trump.
It was during a press conference in the Rose Garden last year that President Donald Trump said he would “100%” be willing to speak with Mueller under oath. Later, the president reiterated his willingness to speak, telling ABC News’ Jonathan Karl in January “I would love to do that…I ‘d like to do it as soon as possible.”
“You know I think things are still in a lane, working toward a resolution of the interview issue,” he said.
Despite the president’s escalating attacks on Mueller, Cobb was respectful of the special counsel’s process.
“In my view, Mueller is doing you know what he was assigned to do. I mean he didn’t he didn’t start the investigation. He got pulled in by Rosenstein,” Cobb said referring to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who is supervising the special counsel investigation after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the case.
Cobb added that it’s still “an open question” as to whether a special counsel can compel a president to testify.
Mueller told Trump’s legal team directly he could “compel” the president to testify via a grand jury subpoena if Trump declined a potential request for an interview, according to a source familiar with the conversation.
Sources told ABC News last month that in the wake of an early morning FBI raid on his personal attorney, Trump, and his legal team say the president is “less inclined” to sit down for an interview with Mueller.
This is a developing story. Please refresh for details.
