RUSH: John in New York, in New York City. Great to have you, sir. Hi.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. It’s an honor to speak with you. Thanks so much for taking my call. You know, I have a slightly different take on the Mueller press conference than you do. You know, obviously I’m upset. But when you look at what he said about Trump and about his actions, it was, like, literally verbatim, as if he was reading from his own Mueller report, from the executive summary. So, you know, he didn’t really say anything at all that was new in that regard. Literally, it was just… It was like he was rereading from the report.
The few things that were new was that it seemed to me he was emphasizing that our focus should be on the fact that, you know, Russia was interfering in our election. Two, that, you know, there was one point where he said that he thought Barr was acting in good faith with respect to whether or not to release the report. And then he said he’s really not gonna testify and that he’s closing the investigation. So, to me, there was really nothing new. Everything was verbatim from the report other than the fact that he seemed to be indicating we should be focusing on the fact that Russia was trying to interfere with us rather than fighting amongst ourselves —
RUSH: Well, see, you’re making one fatal mistake here. You’re assessing this on a factual basis, and you’re absolutely right, and I made this point in the first half hour. Mueller made it plain that the report is it. To me (I even said this), that’s the bombshell. The bombshell is that there isn’t anything that’s not in the report. The media/Democrats have long been telling people that Mueller has something else, that Barr’s covering it up, that Barr’s not letting him say it, and that’s why they want Mueller to come up and testify.
This is what we’ve had to put up with for three weeks now. So Mueller goes out there and says, “The report’s it. There isn’t anything else, and I’m not testifying to anything other than what’s in the report. I’m not testifying, period, and that’s it.” But you’re missing something key. In a sterile, purely unbiased atmosphere, your assessment of it is right on the money. “There’s nothing new here. There’s no collusion and there’s no obstruction and there’s nothing I have to add, and I’m not testifying.”
That’s the bombshell, and the White House statement that calls attention to all this is right on the money. But Mueller then went on and explained that the reason Trump isn’t indicted in anything is because of Justice Department guidelines. Mueller clearly implied to the people who want to hear it this way, that they might have had something on Trump, but it wouldn’t have mattered ’cause they couldn’t indict him. Their hands were tied — which is why I’ve been saying, “Then why do this?”
Because his excuse has been from the get-go, it turns out, that they couldn’t indict a sitting president. So what the point all this was, we don’t know. Well, we do know. It was to get Trump. That puts him at odds. I just… During the break I turned on a cable news station, and that’s all they’re talking about. “Did Barr lie? Did Barr lie when he said that Mueller told him the Office of Legal Counsel guidelines were not a factor in his decision not to charge Trump?”
Because Barr’s been out there many times saying that Mueller told him the legal counsel guidelines had nothing to do with his decision. Mueller said something totally opposite today. Mueller made it clear that Barr is lying. He wanted people to assume that Barr is lying, and that’s what the media is going to say. I guarantee you these guys want Barr to be the one lying. They want Barr to be the one that’s trying to cover up for Trump. So Mueller goes out and says something totally different than what Barr’s been saying, and then Mueller says, “I’m not going to say any more.
“I’m not talking. I’m not testifying. You can’t make me.” So what he says today is the last word. So now it’s just Barr — and Barr’s in Alaska. So, yeah, in a sterile world, you’re exactly right. There’s nothing new here. There was no collusion, Trump didn’t do it, and there wasn’t any evidence on obstruction. But you turn on any cable news network station you want out there, John, and that’s not what they’re talking about, and that’s not what they’re saying, and that’s not how they’re interpreting this in any way, shape, or form. And there’s one reason: Bob Mueller wants them to cover it the way they are.