Will Saletan
@saletan
On Fox, Trey Gowdy says Trump would be justified in refusing to answer Mueller's questions, because House Democrats aren't a "fair jury." fxn.ws/2DIypw9
WALLACE: As a practical matter, does the president have any choice, doesn't he really, in effect, have to sit down with a special counsel for an interview? And let me ask you this, as a former federal prosecutor, when he does that interview, how dangerous is that legally for the president?
GOWDY: Well, I don't know what he's going to say. And I don't know what he knows. So I can't address how dangerous it is. If there's no collusion and if there's no obstruction of justice, there's not much danger.
There are two aspects to this, Chris. There's the legal aspect. And the former prosecutor in me wants him to testify because he is uniquely well situated to answer certain questions. The conversations between he and Comey, there are only two people in those conversations. We've already heard Director Comey's side of it. If there's another side, we need to hear it. That's the legal part. So I wanted him to testify from a legal standpoint.
But let's don't kid ourselves. There is a political component to it. Twice now, over 50 of my House Democratic colleagues have voted to move forward with impeachment. Twice, before he's answered a single, solitary question from Bob Mueller. Over 50 twice and said he should be impeached, and that's without answering a single question.
Adam Schiff, who's the ranking member on the Intelligence Committee, said he had evidence of collusion before we even began the investigation. So the politics of it is, I don't think he's got a fair jury. I do think he has a fair investigator. I think he's got a fair prosecutor in Bob Mueller, but he doesn't have a fair jury and he's going to have to decide whether the legal part outweighs the political part.