Solomon Wisenberg on Interviewing the President
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 August 2018
⏱️ 35 minutes
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Summary
Bob Mueller and the president's legal team are engaged in an extended negotiation over whether the president will sit for an interview with the Mueller team. As it turns out, there are three people in the world who have interviewed a sitting president as part of a grand jury investigation. This week Benjamin Wittes sat down with one of them—Solomon Wisenberg.
Wisenberg served as deputy independent counsel under Ken Starr during the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky investigation. On Thursday, Wisenberg discussed his experience interviewing Bill Clinton, how that can inform thinking on the next possible presidential interview, and how both prosecutors and the president's lawyers can think strategically about next steps.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the LawFair |
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| 0:18.2 | Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, rational security, chatter, LawFair |
| 0:25.6 | no bull and the aftermath. |
| 0:29.6 | Let's assume that the president really was guilty of some underlying crime and he fired |
| 0:39.0 | Jim Comey only because he was afraid that Comey was going to figure out what that crime |
| 0:45.8 | was. |
| 0:46.8 | In my view, he's allowed to do that because he has the authority as president to do it. |
| 0:52.8 | I know it's not exactly on point but I based it on the Arthur Anderson case and my reading |
| 1:00.1 | of the case is I understand there's a different view. |
| 1:03.0 | Really it's never been definitively decided in this context but that makes a big difference. |
| 1:09.0 | That Mueller has a appears to have a very broad view of the obstruction. |
| 1:13.5 | Otherwise why would you be asking people about what did you mean when you said this to Jim |
| 1:18.0 | Comey or what was your motivation? |
| 1:20.0 | We're asking Jeff Sessions to reverse his recusal. |
| 1:24.1 | So that's what I see as a potential problem with McGann is that he was sent in based on |
| 1:29.7 | an analysis in the case by the original lawyers that was probably correct with respect to |
| 1:36.2 | collusion slash conspiracy but may not be with respect to obstruction. |
| 1:42.1 | I'm Michaela Fogel and this is the LawFair podcast August 25th 2018. |
| 1:48.1 | Bob Miller and the president's legal team are engaged in an extended negotiation over |
| 1:52.2 | whether the president will sit for an interview with the Mueller team. |
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