Special Counsel Robert Mueller is aiming to finalize his obstruction report on Donald Trump by the end of the summer while the president and his lawyers continue to discredit the probe, says The Washington Post.
Trump is not a criminal target in Mueller’s Russia investigation, but still a subject in the probe. The special counsel is preparing a report about the president’s actions while in office and potential obstruction of justice, and Mueller needs to interview Trump as the last step, according to one person familiar with the discussions who spoke with the Post. But the president has wavered on a sit-down, and his legal team has not decided on whether he will go through with it.
Mueller could subpoena Trump if he doesn’t meet with him, a move that could end in a lengthy court battle and delay the report’s release. But should Mueller finish his probe, any fallout will lie in Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein’s hands as he has the authority to decide whether to release the information publicly and when and if he should refer the report to Congress to consider impeachment.
“It’ll be a moment that polarizes the country, exposing just how divided the country is about this investigation and who’s on the other side,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich told the Post.
Trump has called the investigation a “witch hunt” and lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Thursday said the report by the Office of the Inspector General that criticized the FBI and Justice Department for its handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe proves a “very serious investigation has to be done of the FBI agents at the very top by FBI agents who are honest in order to prosecute them."
Anticipation for Mueller’s report is still high.
“What we’re going through now is a walk in the park compared to what’s coming when the report [on Trump’s conduct] comes out,” Peter Wehner, a Trump critic who has advised several past Republican presidents, told the Post. “Even if the report is a devastating indictment of Trump, the political tribalism in the country is so deep and won’t suddenly go away.”