President Donald Trump has a duty to answer questions from special counsel Robert Mueller's team under oath, but a spate of recent guilty pleas means he needs to proceed with caution, Ken Starr, whose investigation into President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment, says in a new interview.
“He is the president of the United States, and I think that carries with it an obligation to cooperate with duly-authorized federal investigations,” Starr said during an interview for Politico's "Off Message" podcast. “You’re not above the law."
Starr, though, said if he was on Trump's criminal defense team, he would be "very concerned" over the guilty pleas from several people close to the president, as some of them have come after those involved had made false statements to investigators.
Starr added Trump has the "raw power" to fire Mueller, and he doesn't think there is any serious dispute among constitutional lawyers with that opinion.
He also commented on the ongoing controversies concerning Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who had served on his team investigating the Clinton-era Whitewater scandal.
Starr said if he was investigating the accusations of sexual assault against the federal judge he'd "absolutely pursue relentlessly every possible fact." He also thinks Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who claims Kavanaugh assaulted her in high school, should be heard by the Senate.
However, he said he defends Kavanaugh and thinks Ford's claims are at best a case of "mistaken identity."
“I believe when Brett Kavanaugh says nothing [happened],” Starr said. “Brett says it did not happen, and I believe Brett."
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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