Is it smart strategy for Mueller to issue a subpoena on the president?

Peter Shane, professor, Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law: “I would say, yes. Because the evidence that the president could give would be, in my judgment, directly relevant to the plausibility of charges that involve not only the president but other people involved in his campaign, including family members. And I think that as a prosecutor and former FBI director that Mueller believes in dotting as many I’s and crossing as many T’s as possible. I don’t think he would want to leave this particular stone unturned.”

Whiting: “There are risks for [Mueller] in terms of whether to seek a subpoena. The first is delay. It would be litigated, and it would take several months to be litigated. So he’d have to decide whether and how the delay would affect his investigation. And the second thing is, he could lose in court. I don’t think he would lose in court. But there is always a risk of losing in court. And so he would have to calculate how important it was for him to get the interview versus the risks. That’s why this has dragged on for so long. Both sides are negotiating in the shadow of these risks and trying to press their positions and see who will blink first.”

Stephen Saltzburg, George Washington University professor of law, former associate independent counsel: “Better not to [subpoena the president] because it could be litigated for 18 months or more. [Mueller] has sufficient statements by the president to know why he did what he did.”