President Donald Trump says the report from Robert Mueller exonerates him of wrongdoing, but now insists that the special counsel should not testify. Pundits on Twitter wondered what that was all about.
….to testify. Are they looking for a redo because they hated seeing the strong NO COLLUSION conclusion? There was no crime, except on the other side (incredibly not covered in the Report), and NO OBSTRUCTION. Bob Mueller should not testify. No redos for the Dems!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2019
POTUS has long insisted that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference was a politically motivated “witch hunt” meant to undermine his presidency. The final report didn’t make team Trump look the best, though investigators didn’t recommend charges under “collusion,” and punted on whether the president committed obstruction of justice.
“Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” they wrote. They also explored multiple incidents of alleged obstruction, and they went out of their way to say that they would’ve exonerated Trump if they could, but they can’t.
Cue questions and often sarcastic responses from the Twitter crowd. Let’s start with conservative attorney and Trump critic George Conway, who just so happens to be the husband of Trump’s counselor and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.
Gosh, you don’t want everyone to hear from the ultimate source about how he Completely and Totally EXONERATED you? https://t.co/narssVMtQG
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) May 5, 2019
So weird that Donald Trump doesn’t want Mueller to testify that he found no collusion,no obstruction. So very weird.
— Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) May 5, 2019
Trump selflessly wants to muzzle Mueller so that Mueller doesn’t re-humiliate Dems, libs, and the media by re-exonerating him on national television. Very big of him. https://t.co/ww81qqrswy
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) May 5, 2019
Trump seems really scared of Mueller’s testimony. I wonder why. https://t.co/U7SKJZCD44
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) May 5, 2019
Because you claimed McGahn lied to Mueller. https://t.co/Mc7XJInPLX
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) May 5, 2019
It remains to be seen if and when Mueller will testify.
Just to clarify: we are aiming to bring Mueller in on the 15th, but nothing has been agreed to yet. That’s the date the Committee has proposed, and we hope the Special Counsel will agree to it. Sorry for the confusion. https://t.co/FfR8ReLmkp
— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) May 5, 2019
Mueller spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment when Law&Crime asked about the special counsel testifying.
[Image via Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty Images]
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
