Yeomans: Beware Russia Investigation Hype

Washington, D.C., October 13 – In the latest edition of Yeomans Work, “Beware Investigation Hype,” AFJ Ronald Goldfarb Fellow for Justice Bill Yeomans warns that frustration with President Trump’s tenure in office, and impatience to see it end, are creating a new phenomenon. “Reasonable people grow impatient,” he writes, “which encourages journalists to hype events that we might all like to see, but are very unlikely to occur. This is not the dreaded fake news; just wishful reporting and analysis.”

Yeomans writes that reports of possible imminent Senate testimony by former Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page, and reports that Trump attorneys are adopting a more cooperative attitude toward Robert Mueller’s investigation, are two recent examples. On the latter front,  there was excitement that Trump himself might submit to an interview with Mueller.  But Yeomans writes:

“Trump has a great deal to lose by interviewing with Mueller. First, whether the interview occurs in a grand jury or simply with Mueller and his team, lying is a crime. Trump may be imagining that he can bluster his way through questioning as he has done many times before in depositions in civil litigation. This would be a very different game. The prosecutors, backed by the FBI, would be meticulously well-prepared. No statement would go unexamined. Given Trump’s pathological relationship with the truth, he would slip into criminal conduct. Moreover, given his inability to stay on message or understand the consequences of what he is saying, the questioning would prove devastating. Remember Trump’s gratuitous confession to Lester Holt that he had fired Comey because of the Russia investigation. The man cannot help himself.

“So, a Trump interview might well speed things along, but not in any way the Trump team hopes. Don’t hold your breath.”

Bill Yeomans is available for interviews. Contact Laurie Kinney, laurie@afj.org