{"id":32115,"date":"2018-04-13T12:41:19","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T19:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=32115"},"modified":"2018-04-13T12:41:19","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T19:41:19","slug":"ready-aim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/13\/ready-aim\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready! Aim!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Criminal in Chief of the Republican Party threw such a hissy fit over the FBI raid on fixer Michael Cohen that he has stopped his pretense of cooperation with the Mueller investigation.  Since it seems unlikely that Trump will allow an interview with Mueller, it appears that Mueller sees no need to delay making his report of Trump’s obstruction of justice.  Ready!  Aim!<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"0413Obstruct\"<\/p>\n

Special counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s office and President Donald Trump\u2019s legal team are now proceeding with strategies that presume a presidential interview will likely not take place as part of the Russia investigation<\/a>, after months of talks between the two sides collapsed earlier this week, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

On Monday Trump\u2019s lawyers were discussing a possible interview with Mueller’s team and had begun to hash out the final sticking points, including the timing, scope and length, according to people familiar with the discussions. One person familiar with the strategy said the president\u2019s lawyers had sought over the weekend to expand his legal team to include individuals who would prepare him for an interview<\/a>. Another person familiar with the matter, however, said preparations had not yet gone that far.<\/p>\n

But the prospects for a presidential interview drastically dimmed once the FBI raided the home, office and hotel room<\/a> of Trump\u2019s long-time personal lawyer, Michael Cohen on Monday, these people said. The president criticized the raid as out of bounds in Mueller\u2019s investigation into Russia\u2019s interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump aides\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026Now, according to two sources, Mueller\u2019s team may be able to close the obstruction probe more quickly as they will not need to prepare for the interview or follow up on what the president says<\/strong>… [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <NBC News<\/a>><\/font><\/p>\n

Rachel Maddow<\/a> fills in the blanks on Mueller’s plan.<\/font><\/p>\n