Robert Mueller denied he was interviewing for the position of FBI director when he met with President Trump just before he was appointed special counsel.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, asked Mueller on Wednesday about the May 2017 conversation with Trump during a hearing with the House Judiciary Committee.
“When you talked to President Trump the day before you were appointed as special counsel, you were talking to him about FBI director position, again, did he mention James Comey?”
“Not as a candidate,” Mueller said.
Mueller was again asked about his conversation later in his testimony.
“Did you interview for the FBI director job one day before you were appointed as special counsel?” asked Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla.
“My understanding, I was not applying for the job. I was asked to give my input on what it would take to do the job,” Mueller replied.
Mueller’s statements contradict Trump claiming the May 2017 discussion was a conflict of interest throughout the special counsel’s Russia investigation.
Since at least July 2018, Trump has publicly asserted he “turned him down to head the FBI” one day before he was appointed to lead the investigation, and that the matter was a conflict of interest that should prevent Mueller from serving as special counsel.
Is Robert Mueller ever going to release his conflicts of interest with respect to President Trump, including the fact that we had a very nasty & contentious business relationship, I turned him down to head the FBI (one day before appointment as S.C.) & Comey is his close friend..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2018
Right around the time Mueller began testifying on Wednesday, Trump reiterated that claim and said he had witnesses to prove it.
Robert Mueller came to the Oval Office (along with other potential candidates) seeking to be named the Director of the FBI. He had already been in that position for 12 years, I told him NO. The next day he was named Special Counsel – A total Conflict of Interest. NICE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2019
The alleged conflict was also discussed in Mueller’s 448-page report, in which former White House strategist Steve Bannon contradicted Trump’s claim that Mueller was brought in to interview for the director position.
“In the days following the Special Counsel’s appointment, the President repeatedly told advisors, including Priebus, Bannon, and McGahn, that Special Counsel Mueller had conflicts of interest. The President cited as conflicts that Mueller had interviewed for the FBI Director position shortly before being appointed as Special Counsel, that he had worked for a law firm that represented people affiliated with the President, and that Mueller had disputed certain fees relating to his membership in a Trump golf course in Northern Virginia. The president’s advisors pushed back on his assertion of conflicts, telling the President they did not count as true conflicts. … As for Mueller’s interview for FBI Director, Bannon recalled that the White House had invited Mueller to speak to the President to offer a prospective on the institution of the FBI. Bannon said that, although the White House thought about beseeching Mueller to become Director again, he did not come in looking for the job,” the report says.
Mueller served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013.
