'A Completely Tainted Investigation': Trump Builds Defense Team as Mueller Probe Shows No Sign of Ending

It's been close to a year since special counsel Robert Mueller began investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election. As the investigation reaches a critical stage, President Trump has hired a new attorney and is preparing for the possibility that he will be forced to testify.

Mueller is warning the president that he could compel him to testify before a grand jury. But one of the president's lawyers, Rudy Giuliani, says Mueller has not been objective and does not have the power to subpoena.  

"I think they've lost that power," he told Fox personality Sean Hannity. "This is a completely tainted investigation."

Giuliani told Bloomberg the Trump team would be inclined to do an interview if they thought it would be fair and limited in scope. 

Any such interview could go into Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey. But Giuliani said that if the Mueller team believes Comey is telling the truth, an interview would be just like going into a lion's den. He said the idea that Comey is telling the truth is a joke because in Giuliani's words, "Comey hasn't told the truth in years."

Trump has also just hired Emmet Flood, a veteran lawyer, for the investigation. Flood represented former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment process and also defended former Vice President Dick Cheney.

He's known for his aggressive advocacy and may take a more adversarial approach to Mueller.

The president, of course, is already doing that, tweeting on Wednesday "there was no collusion" and "there is no obstruction of justice."

Stormy Daniels Payment

Meanwhile, there's a big change in the story about the president and porn star Stormy Daniels. Giuliani says the president repaid his former lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to Daniels.  

"He didn't know about the specifics of it but he did know about the general arrangement," said Giuliani. It's something the president has previously denied.

But Thursday morning the president tweeted about the payment, saying it came from a monthly retainer and that campaign money was not used. He said the payment was intended to stop Daniels from falsely accusing Trump of having an affair.

The bigger concern for the president right now is a Mueller investigation that's lasted for close to a year with no end in sight.

Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo told ABC News that he believes Democrats are trying to draw the investigation out and hope to destroy the president, his family and his businesses.