U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal team has rejected a request for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller, the New York Times reports.
Sources told the Times that Trump’s lawyers asked to narrow the scope of the interview in a counteroffer on Wednesday.
Trump’s lead lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said that they have “given him an answer” and that Mueller should take some time to review it, though he didn’t comment on the nature of the response.
Trump’s legal team doesn’t want him to answer questions on obstruction of justice, the Times reported.
The counteroffer comes amid months of negotiations between Trump’s team and Mueller’s. Mueller still has the option to subpoena Trump, should he choose to use it.
Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence, and said he would speak with the special counsel about it.
But Trump has also publicly called the Russian meddling investigation a “witch hunt” and many say that could constitute obstruction of justice.
WATCH: Trump demands Mueller investigation be shut down
Asked what questions they wanted limited, Giuliani told CNN he wanted to make sure there were no “perjury traps.”
“For example: ‘What did you say about Flynn?’ ‘Why did you fire Comey?’ They already know our answer,” Giuliani said.
(Trump’s former security adviser Michael Flynn has been charged with lying to the FBI, and former FBI director James Comey has testified in committees about his conversations with Trump.)
“If they can show us something in that area that didn’t involve those direct questions, that we don’t consider perjury traps, we would consider it,” Giuliani explained.
WATCH: Rudy Giuliani to Robert Mueller: ‘It’s time to put up or shut up’
The exchange of offers between Mueller and Trump’s team comes as Trump’s former campaign manager stands trial for a multitude of charges connected to financial fraud. Manafort is the only American charged by the special counsel to opt for trial instead of a guilty plea.
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