Included in special counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted final report released Thursday were President Donald Trump’s written responses to questions from Mueller’s office. Following the reception of the of the written answers, Mueller wrote in a note included in his report, “we informed counsel of the insufficiency of those responses in several respects,” among them, the number of times (30) that the President said he did not recall or remember or an answer.
Mueller said he told Trump’s lawyers that the President’s answers “demonstrate the inadequacy of the written format, as we have had no opportunity to ask follow-up questions that would ensure complete answers and potentially refresh your client’s recollection or clarify the extent or nature of his lack of recollection.”
They asked again for an in-person interview. “The President declined.”
Mueller ultimately decided it was not worth subpoenaing Trump for his testimony, even though “We viewed the written answers to be inadequate.” At that point, Mueller wrote, “our investigation had made significant progress and had produced substantial evidence for our report.” The cost of a subpoena, including the inevitable lengthy litigation over it, was decided to be not worth it.
So, this is all we have from Trump. Below, we’ve spliced the document up so you can see Trump’s answers directly below Mueller’s questions. We’ve marked the end of each complete answer with a row of asterisks.
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