WATCH: Ex-US Attorney explains to Joy Reid why Trump dictating Don Jr.'s lies puts him in Mueller's crosshairs

Speaking by phone on MSNBC, a former U.S. Attorney walked host Joy Reid through the legal ramifications if it turns out to be true that President Donald Trump personally dictated his son's statement that contained lies about his meeting with Kremlin-connected Russians back in June of 2016.

According to Barbara McQuade, if Trump did dictate the statement then he was trying to mislead the public and the government.

"It is what prosecutors call a 'consciousness of guilt effort,'" McQuade explained. "If you are there telling a story that later is proved not true, you know people begin asking what the motives are for that. And one motive might be that you were trying to conceal the truth because you know that you are guilty of a crime."

Asked by host Reid if the report sets up Special Counsel Robert Mueller to call Trump in to explain, McQuade said, that certainly could be the case but that he might hold off.

"Typically what you want to do in an investigation is gather as much information as you can in documents and lower-level participants in a conspiracy to learn as much as you can," the former federal prosecutor advised. "Then, when you have the opportunity to confront someone who might be the very big fish in a case like this, you have it."

"So my guess is that Mueller will refrain from doing that," she continued. "But at some point he may very well want to ask those questions."

Watch the video below via MSNBC: