Day 836: For someone claiming total exoneration, Trump seems awful worried about Mueller testifying

Donald Trump has tried to spin the Robert Mueller report as a total exoneration regarding collusion and obstruction, even though it showed the opposite.

He’s had attorney general William Barr spinning for him, the talking heads on Fox News shilling for him and the fringe right characters he cozies up to on a constant basis echoing him.

And yet, it’s patently obvious that even he doesn’t believe he has been exonerated by Mueller report. There have been rumblings, even a few quips by Trump himself, that the White House wouldn’t want Mueller to testify before Congress.

Sunday, Trump said it as clearly as he ever has.

There are legitimate reasons to question Mueller, in the same vein as it was — and still is — important to question Barr on his process and findings. Having Mueller testify isn’t re-litigating issues, but rather gathering additional information. Traditional checks and balances are still delineated in the Constitution, no matter what Trump would prefer. And while the report itself may be the bricks, asking questions provides the mortar.

Critical questions would surely include:

• Did you exonerate Trump of all wrongdoing?
• Did you mean to have Barr or anyone at the DOJ make a final decision on obstruction or did you mean to leave that to Congress?
• If Trump and his campaign couldn’t be charged with criminal conspiracy, do you also believe there was no collusion or coordination of any kind?
• If Trump was not the current president, would he have been charged with any crimes?
• Was anything redacted from the report that you did not believe endangered national security or should not have been otherwise redacted?
• Did Barr or anyone else pressure you to conclude your investigation?
• Do you have Trump’s tax returns or other financial information?

And while reading a report — juicy as it may be — leads to illuminating information, it is still far drier than spoken testimony. On top of that, transferring information and evidence from the DOJ — which should be a non-partisan entity, though that’s seriously in question considering the actions of Barr acting as Trump’s de facto attorney— to Congress for oversight and investigation is a crucial part of the latter’s job.

Trump is petrified of Mueller testifying because it has the potential to easily undercut all of his “total exoneration” bravado. Mueller has been virtually silent for two years, while Trump has disparaged him and his work on a near-daily basis. Trump is well aware that the tide of public opinion, even among many Republicans, can shift in as little as a few hours of testimony.

In a blatant and awkward contradiction, Trump is trying to both discredit the Mueller probe and point to as proof that he is an innocent man because he wasn’t charged with a crime. (Mueller noted throughout his report that he couldn’t make a definitive finding of innocence or guilt, only that he did not believe there was enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.)

Trump knows that Mueller testifying is a disaster for him and he’ll likely do anything to stop it.

836 days in, 626 to go

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