A White House official said President Donald Trump and his legal team are reevaluating whether Trump should sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team in light of the raid aimed at the President’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
“The President has made no decision regarding the interview but anybody with common sense will see the attack on his lawyer as cause to reevaluate,” the official said.
The official added that the President’s cooperation should be proportional to the courtesy he receives from the special counsel. The raid on Cohen’s office is viewed by the White House as not showing the President that courtesy, the official said.
Additionally, a source close to the President said there have been ongoing negotiations between Mueller’s team and the President’s legal team for a potential interview, but the raid on the President’s personal attorney has upended those discussions.
CNN reported last week that members of the President’s legal team have been informally prepping him for a possible interview, though no decision on the matter has been made. The President’s anger over the raid as well as a new assessment of what the implications of the raid could be for Cohen’s most prominent client, Trump, are factors that the President’s legal team has to take into account.
The President has not formally agreed to sit for an interview with Mueller.
CNN’s Evan Perez, Pamela Brown and Gloria Borger contributed to this report.
