WASHINGTON – In an extraordinary interview, President Trump and ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos repeatedly sparred over whether special counsel Robert Mueller had cleared Trump of collusion with Russia.
“Are you trying to say now that there was collusion even though he said there was no collusion?” Trump asked Stephanopoulos while riding in his limousine. “He didn’t say that,” Stephanopoulos replied.
Later, Trump again asserted, “He said there was no collusion. George, read the report.” Stephanopoulos answered, “He said he explicitly didn’t look at collusion … He said there was insufficient evidence that said there was a conspiracy. I read every page.”
Trump is right, and Stephanopolous is wrong: Mueller did clear the president of colluding with Russia.
First, Trump is using the word “collusion” because the media repeatedly used it during the investigation. As Mueller points out in his report, “the term has frequently been invoked in public reporting about the investigation” (including, I would add, by Stephanopolous on ABC). There’s a reason for that. “Collusion” is plain English for what most Trump critics alleged: that he worked with Russia to steal the 2016 election.