Andrew McCarthy: DOJ Must Show Evidence Before Asking Trump to Talk

The Justice Department must stop special counsel Robert Mueller from asking President Donald Trump for a sit-down interview unless it can show evidence that a crime occurred, and that the president was somehow connected, former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy said Friday.

"They should not, at the Justice Department, allow Mueller to even request an interview unless they can show that there is a serious crime, that President Trump is somehow complicit in it and that President Trump has information that the special counsel can't get from any other source," McCarthy, a contributing editor for The National Review, told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."

The president Friday morning told reporters at the White House that he "would love to speak" to Mueller, despite the advice of his attorneys.

"I would love to speak," he insisted. "I would love to. Nobody wants to speak more than me, because we've done nothing wrong," Trump said. "But I have to find a way to be treated fairly. If I thought it was fair, I would override my lawyer."

However, McCarthy, speaking before Trump's comments, said that if Mueller's team can't provide the evidence of a crime, or that only Trump can give certain evidence, "the Justice Department should not allow Mueller even to request an interview."

"If they can't show those things, the Justice Department should not allow Mueller even to request an interview."

Mueller has already floated the idea of issuing a subpoena against Trump that would compel him to appear before a grand jury if he will not speak to investigators, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has speculated that there is a 50-50 chance that will happen. 

McCarthy on Friday said Mueller does have the power to file a subpoena, but that doesn't mean Trump would necessarily testify.

"If it gets to that point, the president has executive privilege, and I assume he would assert it, and then it would become a question of could Mueller show what needs to be shown before he could coerce the president into testifying," he said.

• Mueller Seeks 70 Blank Subpoenas
• Clinton Prosecutor: Mueller Can't Challenge Trump on Executive Privilege