Answering written questions for special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters “was a nightmare,” Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani told The Atlantic in a report published Thursday.
“Answering those questions was a nightmare,” Giuliani told the magazine. “It took him about three weeks to do what would normally take two days.”
“He’s got a great memory,” Giuliani said separately of Trump. “However, basically we were answering questions about 2016, the busiest year of his life. It’s a real job to remember.”
Giuliani said Trump is a “little less” controlled than his previous clients, lending credence to unnamed sources in the report who were worried about an aggressive presidential response — on Twitter or otherwise — to Mueller’s report.
“I don’t think following his lead is the right thing. He’s the client,” Giuliani said. “The more controlled a person is, the more intelligent they are, the more they can make the decision. But he’s just like every other client. He’s not more … you know, controlled than any other client. In fact, he’s a little less.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone in the world that can stop Donald Trump from tweeting,” Giuliani added. “I’ve tried.”
Giuliani told The Atlantic one session of answering Mueller’s questions was interrupted by news of the so-called “caravan” of migrants and asylum seekers now on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Separately, Giuliani said Trump was preoccupied with the fate of his former campaign chair, Paul Manafort.
“The thing that upsets potus the most is the treatment of Manafort,” Giuliani said. Upon learning Manafort had been placed in solitary confinement, Trump “said to me, ‘Don’t they realize we’re America?’” Giuliani recalled.
Read the full Atlantic report here.
