A Republican senator did not offer a strong defense of President Trump as many of his colleagues have in the aftermath of the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said Thursday that Trump’s behavior detailed in the redacted version of Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and instances where Trump possibly obstructed justice was “inappropriate.”
[Read: Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report]
Portman, who is in Vietnam with Senate colleagues, did not go as far as calling Trump’s behavior criminal. He did, however, affirm Attorney General William Barr’s conclusions that Trump did not conspire or collude with Russia or obstruct justice.
“The report confirms several key facts consistent with the summary of findings by Attorney General William Barr. One, the report confirms there was no conspiracy or collusion to violate U.S. law between Russia and the Trump campaign. Second, while the report documents a number of actions taken by the president or his associates that were inappropriate, the Special Counsel reached no conclusion on obstruction of justice. Attorney General Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein have concluded that the Special Counsel’s investigation did not include sufficient evidence to warrant any obstruction of justice charges,” he said in a statement.
In response to the evidence laid out by Mueller about Russian interference in the election, Portman said Congress must work together to make sure it never happens again.
[Opinion: Mueller report shows Trump’s top staffers saved him from himself]
