Trump: Mueller report 'could not have been better'
To hear Donald Trump tell it, even a “witch hunt” can have a happy ending.
On his way to a lunch with Republican senators Tuesday, Trump continued his celebration of the release of a summary of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller. Attorney General William Barr said the report concluded that Trump had not conspired with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.
“The Mueller report was great,” the president said. “It could not have been better.”
Trump presumably was relying on secondhand accounts of the report, which as far as is known to the public has been seen only by Barr and other top officials in the Department of Justice.
Mueller’s investigation did result in the indictment of 34 Americans and Russians. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his former campaign aides Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos have all been convicted.
But Trump has gone out of his way to depict the findings as not only conclusive, but wholly positive for him.
No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2019
Yet Barr’s summary notes that while Mueller’s report “does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
The report found equivocal evidence of obstruction of justice by the White House, but Barr announced the president would not face charges for that.
While Barr has pledged to “release as much of the Special Counsel’s report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies,” and Trump has said he does not object to its release, the White House isn’t pushing for its publication.
“I think that the president is doing exactly what he should, which is leaving that decision in the hands of the attorney general, and we’ll see what decision he makes on that front,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday on the “Today” show.
Asked if he would like to see the report made public, the president also deferred to Barr. “Up to the attorney general, but it wouldn’t bother me at all,” Trump told reporters Monday during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the absence of the actual report, rather than Barr’s summary of it, the president and his allies can continue to claim vindication while Democrats in Congress can equally allege a cover-up.
Americans simply want the truth.
Today I tried to pass a resolution saying the full Mueller report should be made public.
The House passed the exact same resolution 420-0.
But here you can watch @SenateMajLdr McConnell object.
Why do they want to hide the full report? pic.twitter.com/kSRFcuwXDf— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 26, 2019
As the political fallout from Barr’s summary continues in Washington, perhaps the most striking development so far has been Trump’s change of heart on Mueller himself. Trump has repeatedly assailed Mueller’s probe as biased, illegitimate and a “witch hunt.”
Universities will someday study what highly conflicted (and NOT Senate approved) Bob Mueller and his gang of Democrat thugs have done to destroy people. Why is he protecting Crooked Hillary, Comey, McCabe, Lisa Page & her lover, Peter S, and all of his friends on the other side?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2018
But on Monday, in response to a question from a reporter as to whether he thought Mueller acted “honorably,” Trump replied: “Yes, he did.”
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