“President Trump pushed his lawyers in recent days to try once again to reach an agreement with the special counsel’s office about him sitting for an interview, flouting their advice that he should not answer investigators’ questions,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Trump has told advisers he is eager to meet with investigators to clear himself of wrongdoing, the people said. In effect, he believes he can convince the investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, of his belief that their own inquiry is a ‘witch hunt.’l

“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office wants to ask President Trump about obstruction of justice,” sources close to the White House tell ABC News.

“The president learned within the last day that the special counsel will limit the scope of questioning and would like to ask questions both orally and written for the President to respond to.”

“According to sources familiar with the President’s reaction Wednesday morning, that was the genesis for his early morning tweet storm.”

“We believe the investigation should be brought to a close… Put up or shut up.”

— Rudy Giuliani, in an interview with CNN, on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

Pew Research: “Over the course of an eventful first 18 months in office, President Trump’s approval ratings have remained remarkably stable. There has also been a wider gap between Republicans’ and Democrats’ views of Trump than for any other U.S. president in the modern era of polling.”

“Four-in-ten Americans approve of Trump’s job performance while 54% say they disapprove, according to a Pew Research Center survey in June. Trump’s approval ratings have hardly moved in surveys conducted by the Center this year, and his current rating is nearly identical to the 39% who said they approved of his performance in February 2017, shortly after his inauguration.”