“His lawyers are concerned that the president, who has a history of making false statements and contradicting himself, could be charged with lying to investigators. Their stance puts them at odds with Mr. Trump, who has said publicly and privately that he is eager to speak with Mr. Mueller.” Trump’s lawyers (most of them, anyway) want him to refuse an interview in the Russia inquiry. Newt Gingrich agrees with that advice. “The idea of putting Trump in a room with five or six hardened, very clever lawyers, all of whom are trying to trick him and trap him, would be a very, very bad idea.” (Yeah, because he needs to be tricked and trapped into lying…)

+ Wired: Bob Mueller’s Investigation Is Larger—And Further Along—Than You Think.

+ The effort to malign the FBI and other institutions is also further along than you think. According to a recent poll, 73 percent of Republicans believe that “members of the FBI and Department of Justice are working to delegitimize Trump through politically motivated investigations.”

+ Jeff Flake on President Trump’s suggestion that those who didn’t clap for him during his State of the Union might be guilty of treason: “Have we arrived at such a place of numb acceptance that we have nothing to say when a President of the United States casually suggests that those who choose not to stand or applaud his speech are guilty of treason?” (Short answer: Yes, we have arrived at such a place.)