Fact check: Trump falsely says Mueller corrected statement ...

[kentuck]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/24/politics/fact-check-trump-after-mueller-hearing/index.html

<snip>
(CNN)President Donald Trump falsely claimed Wednesday afternoon that Robert Mueller had not testified that Trump could be indicted once he is out of office.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump insisted repeatedly, and wrongly, that Mueller "didn't say that" and that Mueller had issued a "correction" of the claim.

Facts First: Mueller did say that, unequivocally, and did not correct it. His correction was about a different statement he had made earlier.

Mueller was direct about whether Trump could be indicted after his presidency. He was asked by Republican Rep. Ken Buck, "Could you charge the President with a crime after he left office?" Mueller said, "Yes."

...more at link

[kentuck]

1. However...

more

<snip>
But the correction was not about this. Rather, Mueller was clearing up an answer he gave to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning about why he did not indict Trump while in office.

Democratic California Rep. Ted. Lieu had asked him, "The reason, again, that you did not indict Donald Trump is because of OLC (Office of Legal Counsel) opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?" Mueller responded, "That is correct."

Mueller explained later, at the outset of his afternoon testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, that he did not mean to suggest he would have charged Trump if not for the Department of Justice policy Lieu was referring to. Rather, he meant that, because of the policy, they did not even consider charging Trump.

"As we say in the report and as I said at the opening, we did not reach a determination as to whether the President committed a crime," he said.

[PRETZEL]

2. didn't get to watch it, but from the threads here yesterday

I had thought that Mueller had made a clarifying statement in regards to a question Ted Lieu had asked, not Ken Buck?

[marble falls]

3. Buck opened the door and Mueller walked in with a resounding, "Yes!"

[PRETZEL]

4. Thanks, nt

[NewJeffCT]

5. Correct

Mueller had clarified a response he made to Rep. Lieu

[kentuck]

6. Yes...

Because of the OLC memo and their interpretation, they never considered charging Trump. They never thought they had the authority to charge a president or indict a president. Their belief, for whatever reason, was that only the Congress, according to the Constitution, can indict (impeach) a president.

His reasoning was very black and white. The only thing the Special Counsel could do, because of the rules, was to lay out the facts. That is what he did yesterday.