Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller multiple times about DOJ guidance that advised against the indictment of a sitting president, arguing that without that guidance, President Donald Trump would have been indicted.
What they did not note was that Mueller had told the DOJ three times that he would not indict President Donald Trump — and that guidance was not cited as his reason for making that decision. (RELATED: No More Indictments Coming From Mueller, Undercutting Trump Critics’ Hopes For Russia Probe)
WATCH:
Fox News personality Katie Pavlich laid out what happened in a March 5 meeting in a series of tweets Wednesday morning.
1) On March 5, 2019 Special Counsel Robert Mueller and multiple staff had a meeting at DOJ with Attorney General Bill Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Barr and his staff asked Mueller and staff three times if they weren’t indicting President Trump on obstruction..
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 24, 2019
2) Because of OLC* rules saying you cannot indict a sitting president. Mueller staff said three times the answer was NO & that a lack of evidence was the reason for a lack of charges…
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 24, 2019
3) Special Counsel then said they did not want to leave the impression OLC was the reason for no indictment. “Trying to state evidence dispassionately, to not leave the impression we would indict but for the OLC opinion.”
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 24, 2019
Based on what was said in that meeting, Mueller’s goal was to ensure that no one believed the OLC guidance — i.e. that it was not proper to indict a sitting preisdent — was the sole reason that no indictment was brought. “Trying to state evidence dispassionately, to not leave the impression we would indict but for the OLC opinion,” Mueller explained at the time.