TELLING THE TRUTH IS ADMITTING GUILT...:

Many of the questions aim to shed light on the issue at the heart of the inquiry into the president's possible obstruction of justice: whether he acted with corrupt intent. What were his motives in firing FBI Director James Comey, and were they pure or tainted by the wrongful desire to shield his associates or himself from liability? When Trump reportedly told Russian officials after he fired Comey, "I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off," was he advocating neutral policy concerns or protecting himself from personal exposure? Was the aim of the president's tweets and comments threatening Comey to intimidate a witness or simply editorial commentary? Trump will need to not only provide innocent explanations to all of these questions, but also address the pattern of his actions, which otherwise appears damning.

Other questions drive at the "collusion" issue by echoing Republican Senator Howard Baker's famous question in the Watergate hearings: What did the president know and when did he know it? If there truly was no collusion, as the president incessantly claims, then this question should be a softball, particularly since Mueller has told the president the exact pitches that are coming. Here too, however, problems lie for Trump. The president will need to explain how it is possible that he did not know about any of the 70 or more contacts his associates had with Russians during and after the campaign; or that the president only learned last summer about the June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting that his campaign chair Paul Manafort, his son Donald Trump Jr., and his son-in-law Jared Kushner took with the Russians. Mueller's questions show that the investigation of conspiracy and other offenses that could fall under the label of "collusion" is very much alive, no matter what House Republicans think.

With respect to both these areas of questioning, President Trump is in a bind of his own making. By volunteering straightforward answers about his conduct, he risks strengthening the case that he obstructed justice and implicating himself in the campaign's possible conspiracy with Russia. If Trump lies to investigators, he risks prosecution for knowingly making a false statement to federal agents--the same offense to which his former associates Michael Flynn, George Papadopolous and Rick Gates have already pleaded guilty.

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