After Mueller spoke out regarding the media furor over his report, making it clear that the report stood for itself and he had no intention of elaborating, Trump responded with a flurry of lies. As Cohen says:
One day after special counsel Robert Mueller publicly refused to exonerate President Donald Trump and hinted at potential impeachment, the President responded Thursday with an avalanche of widely debunked lies about the investigation and its findings.I'm not sure I got all Trump's lies Cohen knocks down, but here are most of them:
Over a few hours Thursday morning, Trump spread at least 21 lies and falsehoods about the Russia investigation, Mueller's findings, the cost of the probe, and the legal restrictions that Mueller faced when grappling with the possibility of a President who broke the law.
In a tweet, Trump said the Mueller probe cost "$40,000,000 over two dark years."
In a tweet, Trump said Mueller had "unlimited access, people, resources and cooperation."
In a tweet, Trump said Mueller was "highly conflicted."
In a tweet, Trump said, "Robert Mueller would have brought charges, if he had ANYTHING, but there were no charges to bring!"
In a tweet, Trump called the Mueller probe a "witch hunt," a label he has used for two years to suggest that the investigation was unfairly targeting him and would bring him down at any cost.
In a tweet, Trump said "Russia has disappeared" from the public debate because the Mueller investigation did not establish a conspiracy of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.
In a tweet, Trump said, "I had nothing to do with Russia helping me to get elected."
In a tweet, Trump said, "Mueller didn't find Obstruction either."
In comments on the White House lawn, Trump said, "There's no obstruction, you see what we're saying, there's no obstruction, there's no collusion, there is no nothing."
In comments on the White House lawn, Trump repeated lies about Mueller's conflicts of interest that he had shared earlier on Twitter. Trump said: "I think he's totally conflicted, because, as you know, he wanted to be the FBI director and I said no. As you know, I had a business dispute with him after he left the FBI, we had a business dispute, not a nice one, he wasn't happy with what I did, and I don't blame him, but I had to do it because that was the right thing to do."
In comments on the White House lawn, Trump said Mueller "loves Comey," and added, "You look at the relationship that those two -- so whether it's love or deep like -- he was conflicted." Trump later said Mueller's "relationship with Comey was extraordinary" and that they were "best friends."
In comments on the White House lawn, Trump continued harping on Mueller's perceived conflicts, saying that he "should have never been chosen because he wanted the FBI job and he didn't get it and the next day he was picked as special counsel. So you tell somebody, 'I'm sorry, you can't have the job,' and then after you say that, he's going to make a ruling on you."
Trump later said Mueller "requested" the job and "wanted very badly" to be FBI director again.
Trump later tweeted: "Robert Mueller came to the Oval Office (along with other potential candidates) seeking to be named the Director of the FBI. He had already been in that position for 12 years, I told him NO. The next day he was named Special Counsel - A total Conflict of Interest. NICE!"
In comments on the White House lawn, Trump asked why Mueller didn't investigate "Comey and all the lies." He asked, "Why didn't Comey come clean and say the things that he knows are fact?"
n comments on the White House lawn, Trump asked, "Why didn't they investigate the insurance policy?" He continued, "In other words, should Hillary Clinton lose, we've got an insurance policy. Guess what, what we're in right now is the insurance policy."
In comments on the White House lawn, Trump said: "Russia did not help me get elected. Do you know who got me elected? I got me elected. Russia didn't help me at all. Russia, if anything, I think, helped the other side." He later went even further, saying, "I believe that Russia would rather have Hillary Clinton as president of the United States than Donald Trump.
On the White House lawn, Trump said: "You take a look at collusion between Hillary Clinton and Russia. She had more to do in the campaign with Russia than I did. I had nothing to do."
On the White House lawn, Trump said: "President Obama was told in 2016 just before the election in September (2016) that Russia may try to interfere with the election. He did nothing."
On the White House lawn, Trump said, "Nobody has been tougher on Russia than me." He touted his energy policy, which is supportive of oil pipelines and natural gas fracking, his decision to send weapons to Ukraine and the new sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs. "Whether it's a whole host of things, there is nobody (who's) ever been more tough or difficult for Russia than Donald Trump," he said. "I have to tell you this, I put sanctions on Russia at a level that nobody has seen before. Nobody even wants to write about it."
Trump said on the White House lawn, "There was no collusion. Read volume one. There was no collusion." This is a reference to the first volume of Mueller's report, which focused on Russia.
On the White House lawn, Trump said, "There were no charges. None.... That means you're innocent. That means you're innocent." Trump continued to make the case that because Mueller had not brought any criminal charges, that "he said essentially, you're innocent."
In comments on the White House lawn, Trump cited Article II of the US Constitution, suggesting that it provided powers that he could use to battle charges against him.
"Someday you ought to read a thing called Article II," Trump said. "Read Article II which gives the President powers that you wouldn't believe, but I don't even have to rely on Article II. There was no crime, there was no obstruction, there was no collusion, there was no nothing."
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