Ex-House intel chairman says Trump's lawyers don't want him to testify because 'he'll say something he's not supposed to'

A Republican who formerly chaired the House Intelligence Committee said Thursday that President Donald Trump's legal team has reason to keep him from testifying before special counsel Robert Mueller in his Russia probe.

"If you're advising the president legally, I would say absolutely not," former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) said when host Jake Tapper asked if Trump should testify. "He's likely to say something he shouldn't say and get in trouble."

Nevertheless, the ex-congressman continued, Trump should testify "for the good of the American public."

Speculation about whether Trump would speak with Mueller intensified this week amid news that his longtime adviser Hope Hicks allegedly advised Donald Trump, Jr. to destroy emails about his Trump Tower meeting with a group of Kremlin-linked individuals in the summer of 2016. The president stated he's open to being interviewed by the special counsel under oath and is "looking forward" to meeting with him last week, only to have one of his lawyers walk the statement back.

Watch below, via CNN: