President Donald Trump won't have a choice about answering special counsel Robert Mueller's questions, whether they're presented in a meeting with his team or in front of a grand jury, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Wednesday.
"I don't think he will have a choice," Dershowitz told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "He will have to do something. He doesn't want to stonewall this."
Being in front of a grand jury, though, is a "very bad option."
Trump's attorneys are pressing for written questions, but that won't happen, said Dershowitz. If the president meets with Mueller's team, it will be time controlled, the subjects will be limited, and he will be able to have his attorneys present.
However, if the president is called before a grand jury, there are no time constraints and he will not be able to have his lawyers present, said Dershowitz.
"If I were his lawyers, I would not answer any questions that related to his motive for exercising his constitutional authority under Article 2 of the Constitution," said Dershowitz. "That goes beyond the power of the prosecution and have that tested in the United States Supreme Court."
According to reports, Trump's legal team is concerned the president "will answer questions that he is not asked, rather than following instructions to answer with a yes, no, or I don't remember," said Dershowitz.
The veteran law professor pointed out it's not necessarily a crime to lie to a grand jury, but it is to commit perjury, a "big difference."
"It has to be a knowing, deliberate, willful lie about material fact," said Dershowitz. "If the president were to say something he really believed but turned out to be contradicted by evidence, that would not be perjury and it would not be a crime. That distinction has to be kept clearly if mind."
Meanwhile, Dershowitz said he trusts Mueller to be fair with Trump.
"He is fair," said Dershowitz. "And sometimes it is thought of as overzealous. I don't think he is partisan and cares whether he prosecutes Democrats or Republicans and he is very tough."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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