The problem, of course, is that actually asking the president those questions — should he ever agree to an interview — would take a long time, precisely the kind of marathon interview the president does not want. “You don’t just ask, ‘What did you know about the Trump Tower meeting?’ and he tells you the answer,” former Whitewater prosecutor Paul Rosenzwig told the Times. “With 48 questions like that, that’s honestly a two-day interview. That’s 12 hours of questioning.”

Not gonna happen.

Whether to talk to Mueller at all is the biggest looming question in the Trump-Russia probe. Trump’s team is giving every indication that the answer will be no, but there could be some sort of compromise — limits on the time and scope of the questioning, allowing Trump’s lawyers to be present, or other Mueller concessions — that might persuade Trump to say yes. Or Mueller might take a hard line, Trump might refuse, and the two sides end up in court, with uncertain results, extending the investigation’s length in the process.

That’s where the mystery surrounding the Mueller investigation comes into play once again. How can anyone predict what will happen when no one outside the Mueller office knows what the prosecutor has? So much talking-head speculation about the case is based on unfounded assumptions that Mueller has reams of evidence that, if revealed, would bring down Trump, or that Mueller has almost nothing, or that this or that cooperating witness knows everything, or knows nothing. The only thing certain in the whole affair is that the sooner it is over, the better — for all sides.