The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:20 PM

President Trump Blasts Russian Probe, Says Unlikely Mueller Will Have To Interview Him

President Trump on Wednesday cast doubt on the possibility that he will be interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, saying it won’t be necessary since there was "no collusion" between his campaign and the Russians.

“When they have no collusion, and nobody has found any collusion at any level, it seems unlikely that you would even have an interview,” Trump said, when asked if he’s willing to meet with Mueller.

Said Trump, “We'll see what happens. Certainly I'll see what happens.”

The president made the comments during a joint White House press conference with Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway. He railed against the “phony” Russia investigation, repeatedly denying any collusion between his campaign and the Russians and saying the probe has harmed the United States.

“I've been in office now for 11 months," he said. "For 11 months, they've had this phony cloud over this administration, over our government and it has hurt our government. It does hurt our government. It's a Democrat hoax that was brought up as an excuse, for losing an election.”

“I will say this, there is collusion but it's really with the Democrats and the Russians, far more than it is with the Republicans and the Russians,” Trump said. “So the witch hunt continues.”

He also complained that when former 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton was interviewed by agents as part of the email probe, she was not under oath.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that the president’s lawyers are preparing for the possibility that Mueller’s team will ask to conduct an interview with the president himself.

There has been no official request by Mueller’s office to interview the president yet, but Trump’s lawyers are anticipating that Mueller may request information from Trump before winding down the investigation into Russia’s attempted meddling in the 2016 election.

According to sources, conversations with Mueller’s team about an interview are in the early stage. It is still possible an interview won’t even take place.

But the president’s legal team is considering a number of possible options for such an interview, including an in-person interview of Trump, written responses to questions submitted by Mueller’s investigative team or an affidavit signed by the president stating his position on the case.

Alex Pappas is a politics reporter at FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlexPappas