The whole truth

President Trump, in clumsy responses to interview questions, has warned Special Counsel Robert Mueller that he'd best not expand his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election too far. It is strange, to put it no more strongly, to read such threats against the investigator by a president whose adminisitration is being investigated. It carries weight, for Trump has the authority to fire Mueller, but to do so would do incalculable damage to his presidency.

Perhaps the only way for Trump to prevent an ever-expanding investigation, to keep things focused narrowly on questions of alleged collusion with Russia, and to make sure nobody gets dragged into side matters, is for all the president's men to tell the whole truth rather than either to invite perjury investigations or to give technically true answers that actually conceal the real story and thus invite futher probing.

Trump needs to instruct his son, his former campaign aides, and everyone in his orbit to tell the truth unsparingly and to make sure the most embarrassing or damaging information comes out soon rather than later. For it will come out one way or another.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has called Donald Trump Jr. and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to testify on Wednesday, July 26. Jared Kushner, Trump's advisor and son-in-law, will testify in a closed session. Under oath, and after intensive coaching by counsel, these men will doubtless be tempted to offer lawyerly answers that cast shade rather than light.

Trump Jr. has been stingy with the truth. When asked about his June 2016 meeting with Russian officials, he originally it was about American adoption of Russians. This is true to the extent that this was the topic that appeared in the event to be his interlocutors' real purpose. But Trump Jr.'s answer was deceptive because that partial truth was used to conceal the more important fact that he accepted the meeting thinking the Russians would give him campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton.