# A Thread for the Mueller Investigation Results and Outcomes (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093 "2017-10-28T20:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 77
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1521 "2018-01-08T20:45:11Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Mueller indicating that he will be [interviewing Trump](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mueller-indicates-he-will-likely-seek-interview-with-trump/2018/01/08/86100bb2-f473-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_no-name%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar&tidr=a_breakingnews&utm_term=.6a9a4e65ad26) in the next few weeks. > \* > "Mueller brought up the issue of interviewing Trump during a late December meeting with the president’s lawyers, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow. Mueller deputy James Quarles, who oversees the White House portion of the special counsel investigation, also attended. > > The special counsel’s team could interview Trump very soon on some limited portion of questions — possibly within the next several weeks, according to a person close to the president who was granted anonymity to describe internal conversations."\* > > Is Trump capable of not lying during such an interview? No. That interview will never happen. Brace yourselves for a major thump distraction. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1522 "2018-01-08T20:51:08Z")
Can Trump simply refuse to be interviewed? I have to imagine that there is some way for Mueller to compel testimony? ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1523 "2018-01-08T20:58:26Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Is Trump capable of not lying during such an interview? I wouldn’t think so. And the thing is that even if he’s prepped in advance, and even if he has a lawyer sitting in during the interview (I don’t know how this would work) it’s not likely to help all that much because Trump is smarter than any of these people and he knows better, and he’s likely to disregard any advice and say whatever he’s in the mood of saying at that exact second (then blame other people when it backfires). As I see it, this is the one part of the investigation that really poses a genuine danger to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1524 "2018-01-08T21:00:10Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Can Trump simply refuse to be interviewed? I have to imagine that there is some way for Mueller to compel testimony? Trumpy has never turned down an interview ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1525 "2018-01-08T21:03:50Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I wouldn’t think so. > > And the thing is that even if he’s prepped in advance, and even if he has a lawyer sitting in during the interview (I don’t know how this would work) it’s not likely to help all that much because Trump is smarter than any of these people and he knows better, and he’s likely to disregard any advice and say whatever he’s in the mood of saying at that exact second (then blame other people when it backfires). > > As I see it, this is the one part of the investigation that really poses a genuine danger to Trump. Based on Trump deposition that I have read, he is smart enough to say, “I don’t remember.” Granted, I assume that he came about this talent after several decades of demolishing himself in his legal suits, but it does seem to have taken at some point. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1526 "2018-01-08T21:04:04Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Can Trump simply refuse to be interviewed? I have to imagine that there is some way for Mueller to compel testimony? Mueller can subpoena him, but that’s not something you do lightly with the President. Meanwhile, though, Trump can keep babbling until the clock runs out. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1527 "2018-01-08T21:09:09Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Based on Trump deposition that I have read, he is smart enough to say, “I don’t remember.” If he feels like saying that, yes. But his emotions have taken hold of him WRT to this issue, and he’s just as likely to assert all sorts of imaginary facts that he feels support his innocence and/or prove his greatness. So it’s a huge risk. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1528 "2018-01-08T21:16:04Z")
If I were Mueller, I’d tell Trump: “I’d like to interview you, in a really opulent setting. I’m thinking multiple cameras catching a lot of glinting off gold accoutrements. You would be lounging on a gold and chintz Louis XIV setee, with servants (ooh, maybe we get Christie for this role) bringing you french fries in golden baskets. And a separate basket for the cheetahs, did I mention the cheetahs? Now, we of course would have a glittering Trump logo in shot at all times, so I’m wondering if you’d like to do this live on prime time…” ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1529 "2018-01-08T21:18:11Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > So it’s a huge risk. So, you are saying that this has the possibility to be a very consensual interview? ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1530 "2018-01-08T21:55:08Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > So, you are saying that this has the possibility to be a very consensual interview? I see what you did there … Seth Abramson has a pretty interesting breakdown of the options and what Trump/Trump’s Legal Beagles may do: > ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1531 "2018-01-08T22:09:07Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > So, you are saying that this has the possibility to be a very consensual interview? \ ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1532 "2018-01-09T02:16:04Z")
> [@Celidin](#): > > I see what you did there … > Seth Abramson has a pretty interesting breakdown of the options and what Trump/Trump’s Legal Beagles may do: > > [x.com](https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/950404182061838336) I feel like Legal Smeagols would be a better nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1533 "2018-01-09T06:53:45Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Its gonna be the money. Money leaves tracks, it can be followed. Trump got hit with a $25 million fine for his Trump University scam, how many of those can he handle before he’s living under a bridge in the Hamptons? It appears to me that what Il Douche fears most of all is transparency about his dealings before he ran. > > Seems to me that if even some of these things are true and provable…and, Lordy, there’s a whole bunch of them!..and the courts applied the sternest penalties…he could be broke. Penniless. That’s the lever. Leave quietly, and we’ll go easy on you, make a problem, and you still go, but live as the object of charitable giving. Sign right here. Adios, motherfucker. The much discussed book Fire and Fury makes the claim ( via Bannon ) that Kushner money is really “greasy”. That might just be Bannon, but Mueller has some high powered money-laundering experts on his team. And that’s fact, not fiction. And even if it’s not collusion, they can end up getting them for other stuff. Remember, Ken Starr’s original mission was investigation of an allegedly corrupt real estate deal and they ended up nailing him for lying no about canoodling with an intern. > [@digs](#): > > If I were Mueller, I’d tell Trump: “I’d like to interview you, in a really opulent setting. I’m thinking multiple cameras catching a lot of glinting off gold accoutrements. You would be lounging on a gold and chintz Louis XIV setee, with servants (ooh, maybe we get Christie for this role) bringing you french fries in golden baskets. And a separate basket for the cheetahs, did I mention the cheetahs? > Now, we of course would have a glittering Trump logo in shot at all times, so I’m wondering if you’d like to do this live on prime time…” I keep hoping that Mueller’s office serves (served) Chinese food when they interview Rob Goldstone. The musical comedy will write itself. But Trumps staff has a brilliant compromise as usual. Instead of testifying or answering questions, the President will sign an affidavit proclaiming his innocence of collusion and obstruction. [https://www.usnews.com/opinion/thomas-jefferson-street/articles/2018-01-08/will-donald-trump-testify-for-robert-muellers-russia-probe](https://www.usnews.com/opinion/thomas-jefferson-street/articles/2018-01-08/will-donald-trump-testify-for-robert-muellers-russia-probe) He might even agree to have it notarized. Case closed, it’s iver, we can all go home. Tell the mods to close the thread. F-P was right, no collusion. In Trumps mobbed up real estate tycoon bubble, he could get away with stuff like this. And he still doesn’t get that this is different. That’s why he’s fucked, and getting more fucked every day. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1534 "2018-01-09T08:32:28Z")
F-P was right?? Forthingray Pip Pip, What what? Hey hey. Pish tosh? Look at page one of this thread. This investigation won’t go past Kushner, and that’s a tough one to believe that it would impeach Trumpy Wumpy back in February 2017. Analysis be gone. Even if it does undoubtedly prove Donny Two-Scoops had meetings in his NY Plaza with Putin, hackers and tea w/ vodka, complete with tapes saying, “I want Putin to make me president” would only promote USSR flag sales to the Bible Belt. This investigation could prove the Howling Yam only has $250 in his checking account and MAGA hat sales would skyrocket. Is there collusion? Of course. Can it be proved? Yes. Will it happen? Not a chance. Ollie North’s grandkids would accept the blame for this before an indictment comes near this poor excuse for an poorly-tanned date. > [@Locrian](#): > > Expectations? First guy on stand says, “I did it. Donny didn’t. It’s all my fault.” Pardon issued, case closed, guy on stand is last seen wheeling a Trump-brand wheelbarrow filled with cash. > > The dumbest and richest con man won the POTUS election. How am I supposed to expect an outcome of justice? I can only see this investigation going state after Mueller is fired, well into the next election, only listed as a news blurb in “Other US News” on any news-- or “fake news” - site, proving this is insurmountable against the GOP. An election giving the Dems control of the Senate won’t make this go faster. It will only delay it, long enough to put it out of memory. An Al Capone-type tax evasion investigation is about the only thing I see working towards getting Burnt Sienna Crayon Man to flap his lips in a court that matters, but it’s way too late for that. Second best chance is unfit/25th amendment toward an impeachment or more likely a step-down. This will include a nation-wide speech featuring crying bible-thumping dumbasses and a President Pence who won’t stop praising the elected fraud. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1535 "2018-01-09T10:25:45Z")
Mueller should just publicly state that he doesn’t think Trump is smart enough to have colluded with Russia. There’ll be a full confession on Twitter in no time. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1536 "2018-01-09T13:39:26Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Mueller should just publicly state that he doesn’t think Trump is smart enough to have colluded with Russia. There’ll be a full confession on Twitter in no time. Okay, that’s brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1537 "2018-01-09T13:41:24Z")
Question: is the fact that Mueller is going to question thump a signal that the investigation is nearing the end? That Mueller started at the outside and is moving through interviewees in decreasing concentric circles with thump at the hub? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1538 "2018-01-09T14:01:31Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Mueller should just publicly state that he doesn’t think Trump is smart enough to have colluded with Russia. There’ll be a full confession on Twitter in no time. You, sir, are a stable genius. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1539 "2018-01-09T14:11:21Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Mueller should just publicly state that he doesn’t think Trump is smart enough to have colluded with Russia. There’ll be a full confession on Twitter in no time. You brilliant, magnificent bastard. I’m stealing this ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/1540 "2018-01-09T14:19:52Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Question: is the fact that Mueller is going to question thump a signal that the investigation is nearing the end? That Mueller started at the outside and is moving through interviewees in decreasing concentric circles with thump at the hub? I’m hardly an expert (I’m just a guy that watched Homicide: Life on the Streets), but I would think that they would either go top-down or bottoms-up, and bottoms-up makes more sense. I would also think that, if you’re going bottoms-up, then you’re not really interviewing Trump to get information out of him - you already know everything that everyone did at Trump’s order - you’re really, purely looking for him to lie. And so you’re not going to interview him until they know enough that they can catch him in a lie, meaning that you really do do him last. But that just ends the “interview” stage of the investigation. There could be any amount of further investigation of records, financial auditing, serving warrants, etc. that could follow for just as long as the interview stage. And probably you would re-interview at least a few people. After that, you still have to write everything up, issue indictments, and take everything to court. I’d also note that, as I said in a previous post, I don’t think that Mueller’s investigation is the investigation of a single crime. There is a wide variety of acts that Trump and those who were affiliated with the campaign may have committed either as part of the campaign (espionage, foreign donations, etc.), in their previous lives (money laundering, tax evasion, etc.), or as they dealt with the investigation and the investigators (e.g., obstruction of justice). Each of these could and probably will have different schedules. They’re probably being worked on by different sub-teams within Mueller’s camp, semi-independently of one another. I guesstimated the next stage of the Manafort case, for example, as probably coming in mid-February. There’s no way that Camp Mueller folds up and goes home anytime in 2018. The only potential is that Mueller issues a statement that they can find no criminal wrongdoing on the part of the President, and Mueller spends the rest of the year focused on Manafort, Papadopoulos, Gates, and Flynn. While this would not, technically, mean that the investigation was over, it would end it so far as most of us are concerned. An unfortunate thing with Mueller is that he’s probably going to have a pretty hard line on his work. It’s up the Congressional committees to decide whether we need laws on the books for things like encouraging a foreign government to practice espionage and interfere with the elections. But it will probably take a Democratic Congress to start the ball rolling on that. So far as Mueller is concerned, if there’s no law broken and he didn’t find any secondary issues (money laundering, etc.) with Trump, then he’ll just say, “All clear!”, even if he thinks that Trump’s behavior on the campaign trail was completely treasonous and unpatriotic. He was hired to find and convict crimes, not to write a report on what happened. The law that Trump is, possibly, the most likely to get in trouble for is one that was written as a result of President Clinton accept foreign contributions. You’ll note that, that law came into life with a whimper not a bang. Preventative legal measures might be all we get and, if we do, they’ll definitely be less than emotionally satisfying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=76) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093.md?page=78)