Fox News’s Chris Wallace flat out told Kellyanne Conway that she was making untrue statements about Mueller’s findings.
Transcript via Fox News Sunday:
WALLACE: Now, the special counsel cleared the president on collusion — absolutely, no question about it. But he expressly did not clear him on the question of obstruction. So, why is the president telling Americans something that is not true?
CONWAY: Well, the Barr memo talks about no obstructive conduct. It also says something — I don’t think it’s enough coverage, which answers your question in part, Chris, which is that also nobody in the Department of Justice felt like the investigation was interfered with, that Mr. Mueller couldn’t do the job he wanted to do…
WALLACE: Right. But —
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CONWAY: — that Mr. Mueller was able to do that. Now, he also didn’t say the president obstructed —
WALLACE: Kellyanne, I’m asking you specifically about obstruction and I don’t mean to interrupt but —
CONWAY: Well, it’s not in there.
WALLACE: I do want to keep you on point. Here is the summary that Attorney General Barr sent to Congress about the issue of obstruction. I want to put it up on the screen. This is Barr summarizing the special counsel.
For each of the relevant actions investigated, the reports they found evidence on both sides of the question, the special counsel states that, quote, while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime of obstruction, it also does not exonerate him.
Video:
Fox News’s Chris Wallace flat out told Kellyanne Conway that she was making untrue statements about Mueller’s findings. https://t.co/MZv1gLxkcr pic.twitter.com/yoRQJEfh5P
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 31, 2019
So when the president says that its total exoneration on obstruction, Kellyanne, that’s just not true.
CONWAY: Well, the president is probably comparing that report and the ultimate conclusions of no conspiracy, no collusion, no contact with any Russian at a campaign that I managed into its final successful phases and have always been offended than anybody would think that we would cheat, lie, steal or talk to any Russians. That’s ridiculous and always was. We wasted a lot of money and a lot of time in people’s anxiety over it.
WALLACE: Look — take yes for an answer, I’m agreeing with you on collusion. I’m asking you
CONWAY: I’m always going to take yes for an answer on the Barr report.
WALLACE: I’m asking about obstruction, though.
CONWAY: We will see with the full report says but there’s nowhere in the Barr report that says the president obstructed justice. There’s nowhere in the Barr memo that says you or I (ph) obstructed justice. And remember, we —
WALLACE: Well, there was no Barr report. Barr is simply summarizing —
CONWAY: The Barr memo summarizing, but I think —
WALLACE: Mueller. And Mueller says it did not exonerate him.
Even Fox News isn’t buying Trump’s lies
This was a bumpy interview on Fox News Sunday for Kellyanne Conway, who couldn’t defend Trump’s claims of total exoneration, so she first tried to change the subject then she made up an imaginary thought bubble for what Trump was really thinking. Trump’s approval rating has dropped since he started his PR offensive trying to spin the Mueller report into a good thing for himself.
Conway made the same mistake that Mick Mulvaney did on ABC’s This Week when he confused Mueller and Barr. It is clear that the White House is trying to mingle Mueller’s real findings with Barr’s partisan conclusions.
The White House spin on the Mueller report has turned into such a big loser that even Fox News is calling out Trump’s BS.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
