Read Bob Mueller's List of Questions for President Trump: Reason Roundup
Plus: Tariffs delayed, and even the words "free speech" are triggering for Harvard students.
Special Counsel Bob Mueller has a long list of questions for President Trump regarding alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The New York Times obtained a list of more than forty questions that would feature in any official interview between Mueller and Trump:
The open-ended queries appear to be an attempt to penetrate the president's thinking, to get at the motivation behind some of his most combative Twitter posts and to examine his relationships with his family and his closest advisers. They deal chiefly with the president's high-profile firings of the F.B.I. director and his first national security adviser, his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.
But they also touch on the president's businesses; any discussions with his longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, about a Moscow real estate deal; whether the president knew of any attempt by Mr. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to set up a back channel to Russia during the transition; any contacts he had with Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser who claimed to have inside information about Democratic email hackings; and what happened during Mr. Trump's 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant.
Unsurprisingly, Trump is furious the questions were leaked to the media. On Twitter, he accused his enemies of making up a "phony crime, collusion, that never existed."
So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were "leaked" to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see…you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2018
One of Mueller's prospective questions may suggest he already possesses some evidence that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was involved in collusion. Mueller intends to ask Trump, "What knowledge did you have of any outreach by your campaign, including by Paul Manafort, to Russia about potential assistance to the campaign?" The Washington Post's Aaron Blake thinks this signals a special interest in Manafort.
As Reason contributing editor Ken White has explained previously, Trump shouldn't agree to speak with the authorities (and neither should you).
FREE MINDS
Student government officials at Harvard University warned a libertarian student group not to use the words "free speech" in an event title. The Harvard Libertarian Club is hosting Flemming Rose—a senior fellow at the Cato Institute best known for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad—and several other speakers for an event about minorities and free speech rights.
But the term "free speech," is now presumed by leftist students to be a far-right dog whistle, The College Fix reported. The event will be called "Dissent from Minorities Within Minorities," instead of "Why Minorities Need Free Speech."
The administration previously tried to place restrictions on another event, "Unsafe Space: Is Political Correctness Why Trump Won?" That event featured Harvard Psychology Professor Steven Pinker, the author Wendy Kamniner, Spiked magazine's Brendan O'Neill, and me.
FREE MARKETS
Trump delayed implementation of steel and aluminum tariffs for another 30 days. The tariffs are supposed to impact imports from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. According to The Washington Post:
The White House said it has reached agreements to permanently carve out three of the countries that got exemptions — including Argentina, Australia, and Brazil — and will finalize details soon. South Korea likewise has nailed down terms waving off the steel tariffs as part of a retooled bilateral trade pact. But leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the European Union need to sweat through another month of heat from Washington, as the Trump administration presses them for more concessions.
Top Trump officials are headed to China later this week for trade negotiations.
QUICK HITS
- Stormy Daniels has filed a dubious defamation lawsuit against Trump for expressing skepticism about the alleged threats made to her in a parking lot in Las Vegas in 2011.
- Some people think it's already time to give Trump a Nobel Peace Prize for bringing North Korea to the negotiating table.
- The New York Times begs Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy not to retire.
- FOSTA and SESTA may be driving prostitutes back into the arms of abusive pimps.
- Roxane Gay was incredibly dismissive and disdainful toward Laura Kipnis during a debate between the two at Pomona College.
