“That’s no good,” President Donald Trump said of a possible “perjury trap,” if he testified to special counsel Robert Mueller. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Image Trump says he could ‘run’ Mueller probe

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he could “run” the special counsel’s Russia investigation if he wanted to, but that he had decided to “stay out” for now.

“I can go in, and I could do whatever — I could run it if I want,” Trump told Reuters reporters during an interview in the Oval Office. “But I decided to stay out. I’m totally allowed to be involved if I wanted to be. So far, I haven’t chosen to be involved. I’ll stay out.”


Legal experts disagree on the exact process, but there is some agreement that Trump has power over the inquiry, including the ability to bring about special counsel Robert Mueller’s ouster. Trump has repeatedly slammed Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt,” and in recent months has assailed the special counsel directly, falsely claiming that Mueller and his investigators are all “angry Democrats.”

Trump’s comments to Reuters come as jurors continue to deliberate charges against one of his former campaign managers, Paul Manafort, who is facing charges of bank and tax fraud. Mueller’s team brought the case against Manafort, just one part of the legal action they have taken so far.

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In the past, some Republican lawmakers have cautioned Trump that firing Mueller would signal the end of his presidency. Trump is already under investigation for possible obstruction of justice in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, who at the time was overseeing the investigation that became the Mueller investigation. The president’s attorneys have argued that it is impossible for him to obstruct justice when he is simply exercising his presidential powers.

For months Trump and his legal team have hinted that the president would agree to testify to the special counsel. But during the interview on Monday, Trump echoed the concerns of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has said such testimony could amount to a “perjury trap.”

“So if I say something, and he [Comey] says something, and it’s my word against his, and he’s best friends with Mueller, so Mueller might say, ‘Well, I believe Comey,’ and even if I’m telling the truth, that makes me a liar,” Trump said. “That’s no good.”