Analysis: The Trump team still maintains Trump didn’t try to fire Mueller. Mueller disagrees.
By Aaron Blake Aaron Blake Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix Email Bio Follow April 22 at 11:08 AM President Trump and his aides are playing an interesting game with the Mueller report. They are claiming it as complete exoneration but also attempting to poke holes in its foundations and some of its details. And now, they’re going after its characterization of one of the biggest events in the obstruction probe: Trump’s attempt to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
“The first version of that conversation is the president used the word ‘fire,’ and he told the president ‘I’m going to resign’ directly,” Giuliani told Fox’s Chris Wallace. “He then recants that and says no ‘fire,’ no statement that I was going to resign. And then he comes up with . . . a third version which is even softer which says something like, ‘He should be fired’ or 'He has conflicts; he can’t be special prosecutor.
It’s worth emphasizing, though, that the Times never actually said McGahn had directly informed Trump. There is no evidence that McGahn, if he was a source for these stories, actually changed his account. The Mueller report addresses this issue, saying that The Post story “clarified” the Times’s story — not that it corrected it.
The Mueller report itself acknowledges that this is a point that is disputed between the Trump team and McGahn, but it argues that McGahn’s version is compelling :
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Analysis | His Fox News gig was the perfect transition from ‘Apprentice’ Trump to politician TrumpAnalysis: His Fox News gig was the perfect transition from 'Apprentice' Trump to politician Trump
Read more »
Mueller report: No evidence Trump knew about Trump Tower meeting in advanceMueller report 'found no documentary evidence' to indicate that President Trump knew ahead of time about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between top campaign officials and a Kremlin-connected lawyer.
Read more »
What the Mueller report says about Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.The special counsel's report focuses on the president himself, but it also reveals new details about his family members, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Jared Kushner.
Read more »
Mueller report makes political case against Trump: AnalysisANALYSIS: The Mueller report did not result in a legal case that will be brought against Pres. Trump—but it did construct a detailed political case against him, with vast implications for Congress and both parties ahead of 2020 election.
Read more »
ANALYSIS: Mueller report makes political case against TrumpANALYSIS: The Mueller report did not result in a legal case that will be brought against Pres. Trump—but it did construct a detailed political case against him, with vast implications for Congress and both parties ahead of 2020 election.
Read more »
Analysis | How William Barr successfully pre-spun the Mueller report for TrumpThe debate over the report was always going to be partisan. Barr gave Trump supporters something to latch on to, even though it was misleading.
Read more »
Analysis | The 10 Trump actions Mueller spotlighted for potential obstructionAnalysis: The 10 Trump actions Mueller spotlighted for potential obstruction
Read more »
Analysis | 3 ways the Mueller report still threatens TrumpWe know that it doesn't accuse the president of the crimes of conspiracy with Russia or obstruction of justice. Here's what could still harm him.
Read more »