Two weeks ago, Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Andrew Napolitano emphatically argued that President Donald Trump should refuse to talk with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents as part of the so-called Russiagate investigation. Napolitano, a former New Jersey state judge, explained then that “no serious criminal defense lawyer” would support entering into such communication with people trying to prosecute a client and that the investigators in this instance should be expected to be seeking to trap Trump as they have other people interviewed before in the investigation.
Interviewed Thursday at Fox News’ Fox and Friends, Napolitano doubled down on his earlier analysis and, in answering queries from the show’s hosts, shot down several reasons people may offer to support the conclusion Trump would be acting wisely to follow through on Trump’s recent comment that he is looking forward to talking with Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is running the investigation.
Napolitano provides in the interview a great amount of highly valuable analysis that Trump would be unwise to dismiss.
Here are some key points from Napolitano: Mueller “owns two grand juries” that could issue indictments. While some people may expect that Trump’s experience with depositions in civil cases will help him make it through an interview alright, in the Russiagate investigation, unlike in those civil cases, the other side has an incredible amount of information that it is not required to be disclosed upfront to Trump. Mueller, with thousands of documents and interviews of hundreds of witnesses, knows more about the case than does Trump. Mueller can be expected to use a conversation with Trump to bring forth from Trump a misstatement on which to hang an indictment for making a false statement to the investigators.
Indeed, Trump’s tendency to speak in not the most respectful manner and without word economy will also give the investigators more of an opportunity to “trip up” Trump. In fact, other individuals have already been tripped up in interviews related to Russiagate, resulting in those individuals’ indictments for misstatements. This is not surprising because the investigators have expertise in tripping up people they interview.
In sum, speaking to Mueller or his investigators carries for Trump, legally, big risks and just about for certain no benefit. Concludes Napolitano:
Let’s put it this way: In all the years that I have been involved in this end of the legal profession, I never heard of someone talking prosecutors out of charging them. When you go to talk to them, you make it worse.
Watch Napolitano’s complete interview here:
Napolitano is a member of the Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board.
