Adam Schiff (D-CA), the chairperson of the House Intelligence Committee, feels that Robert Mueller should get President Trump in front of the grand jury to answer questions about his potential involvement in Russian interference into the 2016 election.
Host Chuck Todd, on Sunday’s Meet The Press, asked Schiff if Mueller should subpoena the president, noting that President Clinton did go before Ken Starr’s grand jury, asking if not doing so would be a mistake.
“Yes, I think it is a mistake,” said Schiff. “And I’ve said all along that I don’t think Bob Mueller should rely on written answers. When you get written answers from a witness, it’s really the lawyers’ answers as much as the client’s answer. And here you need to be able to ask follow-up questions in real time.”
“But I think the constraint that Bob Mueller’s operating under is he had an acting attorney general who was appointed because he would be hostile to a subpoena on the president,” added Schiff. “And now he has a permanent attorney general who was chosen for the same hostility to his investigation, who would likely oppose that step.”
Schiff concluded, “I also think that the special counsel feels some time pressure to conclude his work. And knowing that the White House would drag out a fight over the subpoena, that may be an issue as well. But I do think, ultimately, it’s a mistake because probably the best way to get the truth would be to put the president under oath. Because as he’s made plain in the past, he feels it’s perfectly fine to lie to the public. After all, he has said, ‘It’s not like I’m talking before a magistrate.’ Well, maybe he should talk before a magistrate.”
The question was brought up in the wake of Michael Cohen’s most recent testimony before congress, and questions over whether Cohen is being entirely truthful. Schiff also spoke about Cohen’s credibility, and seeking the truth in what he had to say.
“You know, to me in looking at what Michael Cohen said in the open hearing and then what his lawyers said afterwards, it was very much like what Donald Trump did when he said that he had no knowledge of these payments to Stormy Daniels and then Rudy Giuliani said, ‘Oh yes, he did.’ Well, where is the truth there? We asked Michael Cohen about this extensively,” said Schiff. “Those transcripts will be made public. The public can evaluate his credibility themselves.”
View the complete exchange below:
Image via screen capture from video source.