Giuliani: Mueller lawyers say they won't indict a sitting president
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Rudy Giuliani/Mark Reinstein (Shutterstock.com.)
Special counsel Robert Mueller has concluded he will follow Justice Department rules that bar an indictment of a sitting president, according to Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer representing President Donald Trump.
In interviews with CNN and Fox News, Giuliani said lawyers with Mueller’s office have told Trump’s attorneys about their conclusion.
“All they get to do is write a report,” Giuliani told CNN. “They can’t indict. At least they acknowledged that to us after some battling, they acknowledged that to us.”
Giuliani said the president’s lawyers believe the Constitution bars such an indictment, but Mueller’s team isn’t going that far. The prosecutors say they are abiding by Justice Department rules on the issue. In any event, Giuliani told Fox News: “This case is essentially over.”
CNN said that Mueller’s team declined to comment on Giuliani’s assertion.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein noted the Justice Department’s longtime stance at a Freedom Forum Institute event last month. Rosenstein cautioned that he wasn’t addressing the issue “in the context of any current matters, so you shouldn’t draw any inference about it.”
See also:
ABA Journal: “Can a sitting president be indicted? The Constitution doesn’t give a definitive answer”
