NBC’S Chuck Todd says special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report leaves President Trump in a state of political limbo as a “technically exonerated” man.
The host of “Meet the Press” told his audience over the weekend that Mr. Mueller’s conclusions, along with Attorney General William P. Barr’s letter to lawmakers on the nearly 400-page report, still leave a cloud of suspicion over the president’s head.
“Let me quote from Mr. Barr’s report,” Mr. Todd told Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso on Sunday. “The special counsel states that ‘while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’ What do you take that to mean? The special counsel did not — did not find a crime when it comes to conspiracy. There is a counterintelligence investigation. This is what we know from it.”
“I’m curious if you think the president is exonerated from all of these things, allegedly asking Comey for loyalty, allegedly telling Comey that he hoped he could let Flynn go, telling the Russian ambassador in the Oval Office that he got this Comey thing out of the way, the public asking for help,” he continued. “The president’s behavior, while he’s technically exonerated from a crime, is he exonerated from his behavior as a president?”
The Republican countered that all presidents, given the nature of the position, are judged “on many things.”
“Behavior is part of that,” he said, the media watchdog NewsBusters reported. “The electorate will be asked to make that judgment in 2020 and we’ll see how they decide. I think that the president has been clear with the American people. He has been, I believe, falsely accused for the last two years and Mueller has proven the fact that there was no collusion or conspiracy.”
Mr. Mueller’s investigation lasted 22 months before concluding March 22. A four-page letter was sent to Congress detailing its overarching conclusions.
Democrats have called for a full release of Mr. Mueller’s findings.
“We need to see the Mueller report ASAP, with only those redactions that are absolutely necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods,” Sen. Mark Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said March 29. “Congress and the American people need the full story about what happened in 2016.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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