Preet Bharara Defends Mueller from Attempts at ‘Character Assassination’

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara hit back at Robert Mueller’s detractors on Wednesday after the special counsel finished his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

Bharara appeared on CNN during the panel discussions on today’s hearings, which began with a focus on how Mueller has been criticized for his performance at the hearing and his seemingly-shaky grasp on elements of his own report. Bharara shrugged off concerns about Mueller’s conduct, saying “people have great moments and less great moments no matter how old you are, how young you are.”

“When he was asked a question that was logical and sensible and was grounded in reality, and was asked at a reasonable pace, he knew exactly what was going on and answered clearly and concisely,” Bharara said. “There were some folks who were rattling things off with him, word salads, and he had to ask the question, repeat it, and he didn’t immediately understand what was being asked. I think a lot of people would be in that position.”

Bharara concluded that “what’s going on here is another dimension of character assassination that’s been going on for two years now.” Wolf Blitzer took note of Bharara’s defense by asking “did you know every detail of every case that the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District in New York went through?”

“You can’t possibly,” Bharara answered. “No individual on a large investigation – when you have a large team – knows every fact because no individual has read every document and interviewed every witness. It’s the collective of the group that produces the product.”

Watch above, via CNN.

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