Joe Lockhart: Why Does Trump Not Want Mueller to Testify if He Feels Completely Exonerated?
Joe Lockhart continued his streak of offering concise and trenchant commentary on CNN New Day Monday morning. In this example, the former White House Press Secretary pointed out a simple contrast between President Donald Trump’s alleged claim of complete exoneration evidenced by the Mueller Report, but his desire to NOT have Special Counsel Robert Mueller testify before the House Judiciary committee next week.
Over the weekend, President Trump made a bit of news with a mini-tweetstorm focused on the Mueller investigation and the potential Congressional hearing:
After spending more than $35,000,000 over a two year period, interviewing 500 people, using 18 Trump Hating Angry Democrats & 49 FBI Agents – all culminating in a more than 400 page Report showing NO COLLUSION – why would the Democrats in Congress now need Robert Mueller…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2019
….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
Amidst a conversation about potential Mueller testimony Lockhart plainly offered:
Listen, I think if he found a way to spin the Mueller report as exoneration of the president, he can find a way to spin and turn this around. In reality, though, is the problem of the president of having two divergent strategies. Of saying, I’ve been totally exonerated, but the person that’s totally exonerated shouldn’t talk about it publicly. That is — it undermines his number one strategy. If he felt totally exonerated, he should want the special counsel to be up on Capitol Hill, talking about that total exoneration. We’re now, you know, that was what the problem with the strategy, which is, he wasn’t exonerated. So he’s now going to try to keep him from doing it or talk about keeping — all it will do, though, is raise the drama of when Mueller eventually testifies and brings this report to life.
Fellow panelist Jeffrey Toobin followed with a bit of self-aware CNN mockery, offering: ” Have you watched CNN? Do you think we will not do enough drama if Robert Mueller testifies? How many banners, countdowns — there’ll be lots of drama.”
Lockhart followed by simply explaining what looks like a likely Mueller testimony by calling it “the testimony the president doesn’t want you to hear.”
Watch above via CNN.
