May 1, 2018: A "Perjury Trap" Is Asking President Trump a Question and Listening to Him Lie

 

May 1, 2018: The sun rises over Washington. Trump wakes. Trump learns The New York Times has published an article about forty-nine questions the Mueller team would like him to answer. Trump tweets angrily. 

It’s what the man does: 

So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were “leaked” to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see...you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!

 

The president tunes in to Fox News. This riles him further. He tweets again, “It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!” 

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He lies with stunning abandon.

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In reality, the president should be happy to see the questions in advance because every man, woman, and child on his legal team lives in fear he will have to testify under oath. The fear is that no matter how carefully they might prepare him to meet with Mueller’s team he won’t be able to avoid stepping into what his handlers call a “perjury trap.” 

A “perjury trap,” as far as Mr. Blogger can tell, is where you ask the Big Orange Buffoon questions about allegedly illegal activities, and he does what he always does. He lies with stunning abandon. 

Here we provide a list of some of the questions Mueller would like the President of the United States to answer –with helpful notes of explanation: 

What did you know about phone calls that Mr. Flynn made with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, in late December 2016? 

When Flynn lied about what was discussed during the phone call, and lied to Vice President Jesus, not investigators, that was the cause of his removal as National Security Adviser.

 

What did you know about Sally Yates’s meetings about Mr. Flynn? 

Eighteen days passed between the time Yates informed the White House that Flynn had lied, and the time Flynn was fired.

 

After the resignation, what efforts were made to reach out to Mr. Flynn about seeking immunity or possible pardons? 

As a former F.B.I. counsel recently explained, prosecutors like Mueller often ask the subject of investigation questions for which they know the answers. This is where Trump may trigger a “perjury trap.” 

Mueller has asked the courts to delay Flynn’s sentencing for at least sixty days. This would indicate a cooperating witness is yielding up information helpful to the prosecution.

 

What was the purpose of your Jan. 27, 2017, dinner with Mr. Comey, and what was said? 

This was the dinner, Trump alone with Comey, at Trump’s request, during which the F.B.I. director says the president wanted to know more about the Steele Dossier and said he needed “loyalty” from Comey.

 

What was the purpose of your Feb. 14, 2017, meeting with Mr. Comey, and what was said? 

Flynn had resigned the day before. According to Comey, the president first cleared the Oval Office of others, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Then he asked him to go easy on the investigation.

 

What did you know about the F.B.I.’s investigation into Mr. Flynn and Russia in the days leading up to Mr. Comey’s testimony on March 20, 2017? 

Director Comey revealed publicly in testimony before Congress that members of the Trump campaign were being investigated.

 

What did you do in reaction to the March 20 testimony? Describe your contacts with intelligence officials? 

According to the Times, Trump asked the nation’s top intelligence official, Dan Coats, “to pressure Mr. Comey to back off his investigation.”

 

What was the purpose of your April 11, 2017, statement to Maria Bartiromo? 

In that interview, Trump complained that Comey had been “very, very good to Hillary Clinton…If he weren’t, she would be, right now, going to trial.” 

(Keep those comments in view. As Trump sees it, the law should be used to bludgeon opponents.)

 

Regarding the decision to fire Mr. Comey: When was it made? Why? Who played a role? 

There’s a better than fair chance investigators have already talked to witness about what Trump said and what his intent was in days leading up to the firing of Director Comey. Here again: a perjury trap waits if Trump lies.

 

What did you mean in your interview with Lester Holt about Mr. Comey and Russia? 

It was during that famous interview that Trump said he was really going to fire Comey for one reason: the Russian investigation.

 

What was the purpose of your May 12, 2017, tweet? 

This was the tweet in which the president warned that Comey had better hope there were no tapes of their previous conversations. For context: Comey responded, “Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” Trump admitted later there were none.

 

What did you think and do regarding the recusal of Mr. Sessions? 

Sessions has already met with Mueller’s investigators. Trump has never forgiven him for his recusal, which allowed Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General, to appoint a Special Counsel.

 

When did you become aware of the Trump Tower meeting? 

Here may be the biggest “perjury trap” of all, one large enough to grab a grizzly and hold it fast. No one involved in this meeting (in June 2016) originally remembered it had been held. Then no one remembered what the true purpose of the meeting was. By the time the free press revealed that meeting, and that purpose, the president, his son Don Jr., and close advisers had crafted a phony cover story. They insisted the meeting was primarily about adoption, a claim, if made under oath today, which would merit a charge of perjury. 

It would be perjury Armageddon.

Both Don Sr. and Don Jr. lied about the meeting to the press.

 

What involvement did you have in the communication strategy, including the release of Donald Trump Jr.’s emails [related to this meeting]? 

Basically, why did you knowingly craft a cover story, regarding the June 2016 meeting, that you should have known, or did know, was a lie?

 

What communication did you have with Michael Cohen, Felix Sater, and others, including foreign nationals, about Russian real estate developments during the campaign? 

What discussions did you have during the campaign regarding Russian sanctions? 

Those two questions – and several others – about a potentially massive deal to build a Trump Tower Moscow, hint at investigators’ interest in a quid pro quo, involving Trump campaign officials, and perhaps Trump himself, with agents of a hostile foreign power.

 

What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign? 

This is a new line of inquiry. It may indicate that Rick Gates, Manafort’s right-hand man, also known to be cooperating with the Mueller probe, could have spilled the tale of the dirty tricks of Team Trump 2016.

 

What did you know about communication between Roger Stone, his associates, Julian Assange, or WikiLeaks? 

(For more on Stone, jump to: 1/25/19.)