Byron York: From former Trump lawyer, candid talk about Mueller, …

… Trump’s longtime habit of operating on two levels. On the surface, Trump sets off controversies, often using Twitter to say something outrageous that sets the media agenda and leaves some commentators with their hair on fire. At the same time, below the surface, Trump is actually taking steps to get a particular job done.

… Behind the scenes, Trump was cooperating [with Mueller] and making sure his staff did the same. The Trump White House offered everyone (except, of course, the president himself) to be interviewed, and reams and reams of documents that other White Houses might have withheld on the grounds of executive or other privilege. So Trump simultaneously attacked and cooperated.

“Early on, when the president started teeing off on Mueller, Mueller indicated to me that he was worried that some people might not cooperate,” Dowd said. “I said, well we’ve encouraged everyone to cooperate, and if you want me to say something publicly about that, and the president, we’re happy to do it. And we did. We encouraged everyone who was asked to cooperate … Bob [Mueller] was satisfied with that. It never came up again.”

In the end, Dowd said, Mueller “acknowledged that all the [Trump connected] witnesses told the truth, all the documents were there, there was nothing missing, no documents destroyed.” The level of cooperation, Dowd said, was “truly remarkable,” all while the president distracted the world with his tweets.

This article was published in the Washington Examiner on April 3. The Trump lawyer is John Dowd. Funny, Mueller also had a conflict with Trump’s golf club over fees in Virginia in 2011.

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