On Sunday, the White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah expressed his belief that President Donald Trump would meet with the special counsel under oath.
His comment came in response to a question by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, who said the President has told him twice that he plans to meet with Robert Mueller, who is overseeing the Russia investigation and will answer questions under oath.
Karl asked Trump’s spokesman if “the president plans to keep his word,” to which Shah responded that he is “sure he intends to.” Shah added that Trump’s “attorneys are communicating with the special counsel on the specifics regarding that.”
Karl then raised the question as to whether there were any circumstances under which President Trump would seek to have Mueller fired.
“For instance, if Mueller were to begin to look into the Stormy Daniels payoff, would that be a red line? Would the President fire him?” Karl asked.
Shah noted that there was “no intention whatsoever to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel, right now.”
He added, “We’ve been fully cooperative. We respect their process. We’re hoping it will come to a conclusion in the near future.”
Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who has claimed to have had an affair with Trump before he became president, filed a lawsuit against him on Tuesday, claiming that a nondisclosure agreement about the alleged affair which she signed 11 days before the 2016 election is not valid because Trump never signed it.
Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has said he used $130,000 of his own money to pay Daniels for signing the NDA. When asked if Trump approved the payment, Shah only said, “Not that I’m aware of.”
Karl asked Shah on “This Week” if the President himself directly reimbursed Cohen for the payment.
“Not to my knowledge,” Shah responded, acknowledging, however, that he hadn’t “asked the President about that question.”
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