Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano advised President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani to stop negotiating with special counsel Robert Mueller and to avoid setting up a meeting between him and the president.
“Should Trump voluntarily speak with Mueller? In a word: No,” Napolitano wrote in a Fox News op-ed Thursday. “If I were
Nick Givas | The Daily Caller FEED
Giuliani, I would tell Mueller that the negotiations are terminated and the president will not voluntarily sit for an interview with him. There are paramount and prudential reasons for this.”
“When prosecutors want to talk to a person they are investigating, the talk is intended to help the prosecutors, not the subject of the investigation,” he continued. “So why should Trump engage in a process that could only help those pursuing him?”
Napolitano said the prosecution likely has several aces in the hole with regard to evidence, so Trump shouldn’t help them gather more information to use against him.
“No good for Trump could come from a Mueller interview,” he added. “I have seen many criminal cases in which potential defendants who thought they could talk prosecutors out of an indictment tried to do so and made matters worse for themselves.”
Napolitano said the next step would be for Mueller to subpoena Trump and the fight would move to federal court. If it continued to drag out, it could go all the way to the Supreme Court.
“Of course, Trump could accept the subpoena and then invoke his Fifth Amendment-protected right to silence,” Napolitano wrote. “Another president once weighed in on dealings with bureaucrats and prosecutors. Ronald Reagan quipped many times that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’ Mr. President, beware of prosecutors bearing invitations.”
George Barron from infoArmed.com contributes to this website