RUDY THE TOUGH – AT 12:15 P.M. ET:   This is the Rudy we saw when he was mayor of New York.  The man does not like to lose.  He doesn't consider it noble.  Now he's representing the president, and he doesn't intend to lose.  From Fox: 

President Trump’s lawyers have told FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller that they want him to produce evidence that Trump has committed a crime before they agree for the president to be interviewed as part of Mueller’s Russia investigation.

Rudy Giuliani, the top lawyer on the legal team, told Fox News on Saturday he is asking Mueller for a “factual basis for the investigation” before the team considers allowing Trump to be interviewed by Mueller’s team.

Trump and his team have become increasingly frustrated with how long Mueller’s probe is taking to complete, and Trump in particular has taken a more aggressive stance toward Mueller since the Department of Justice criticized the FBI’s actions in 2016 in relation to the Hillary Clinton email probe.

The new demands by Trump’s legal team indicate that it is likely to take a more aggressive and combative stance toward Mueller going forward.

The New York Times, which first reported on the new demands, reported that Giuliani has acknowledged that Mueller is unlikely to agree to them, and also left open the possibility that Trump may still agree to be interviewed. Trump has repeatedly said he is keen to sit down with Mueller.

COMMENT:  At least the White House is showing some spine.  This president has been investigated, and probed, and harassed.  The other side wants him gone...and doesn't care if it sullies American democracy to get him gone.  They know they have the Establishment and the mainstream journalists with them.

This is the danger of special prosecutors.  They operate on their own, but it's the American people who elect the president.  It is an inherent contradiction.

July 7, 2018