Federal Bureau of Investigation

Initial Talks Underway About Trump Interview in Mueller Russia Probe: Sources

Justice Department veterans suggested that special counsel Robert Mueller would want to interview the president directly

President Donald Trump's legal team is in discussions with FBI investigators over what a possible interview with special counsel Robert Mueller's team might look like, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

One option for the interview being discussed is written responses to questions instead of a formal sit-down, sources said. One person with direct knowledge of the discussions described them as preliminary and ongoing.

Two of Trump's lawyers and a spokesman for the special counsel's office declined to comment to NBC News.

Justice Department veterans suggested that Mueller would want to interview the president directly, with former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Chuck Rosenberg saying that prosecutors "want answers directly from witnesses, not from their lawyers. The odds of prosecutors agreeing to written responses are somewhere between infinitesimally small and zero."

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