MANCHESTER, N.H. — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday disputed President Trump’s rosy characterization of the Mueller report, insisting it does not clear him of wrongdoing, as he visited this key, early primary state to consider waging a 2020 GOP primary challenge to block the commander in chief from re-nomination.
Hogan came to New Hampshire for “Politics & Eggs,” a breakfast event that draws White House hopefuls as they stump for support in the state that hosts the second nominating contest on the primary calendar. Hogan during his speech never raised special counsel Robert Mueller’s federal investigation into Trump and his 2016 campaign. But the governor told reporters afterward that the probe’s final report was “disturbing.”
“It certainly did not completely exonerate the president, as he said,” Hogan said. “Just because aides did not follow his orders, that’s the only reason we don’t have obstruction of justice.
“Maybe there was not collusion with the Russians, which there was a lot of hype about that from the Democrats for a long time so now he gets to say that didn’t happen,” the governor added. “But there was some really unsavory stuff in the report that did not make me proud of the president. There’s certainly nothing to crow about and nothing to celebrate at all.”
Still, Hogan said he opposed House Democrats initiating impeachment proceedings, a move supported by the liberal base and some of the party’s presidential candidates. “I don’t think they would be productive,” the governor said. “I don’t think there should be Democratic overreach.”
[Read more: Pelosi leans on leadership team in urging caucus to set aside calls for impeachment]
Republican voters are plenty satisfied with Trump, according to most public opinion polls. But those quarters of the GOP where opposition to the president still reigns have been encouraging Hogan to mount a primary challenge. The 62-year-old cancer survivor overwhelmingly won reelection in deep blue Maryland in 2018, an otherwise horrible year for Republicans that saw a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in a clear repudiation of Trump.
The completion of the Mueller investigation and issuance of the special counsel’s conclusions has been a marker many Never Trump Republicans had pointed to as a helping to determine what course their opposition to the president would take in 2020. The report essentially determined that Trump did not collude with Russia to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton three years ago, while declining to offer a judgment on whether the president committed obstruction of justice.
Trump, and many Republicans in Congress, have said those findings clear the president and prove his claims that the probe was an unfair “witch hunt.”
Hogan strongly disagrees and did not hesitate to discuss the matter with reporters on the campus of St. Anselm College in Manchester after speaking to a full room of about 100 who showed up to hear from him at “Politics & Eggs,” although he focused his prepared remarks on kitchen table issues and his complaints about partisan gridlock in Washington. Hogan’s father, who served in Congress during the Watergate scandal, was among the first Republicans to break with President Richard Nixon.
Hogan said he would like to see more of that sort of courage from Republicans on Capitol Hill in regard to Trump. “I’m very frustrated. And, I know that there are a number of my colleagues — both governors and senators and members of the House — that will say privately they’re very concerned. But they won’t say anything publicly. And I think it’s because, you know, they’re afraid.”
“There’s no profiles in courage here. They’re afraid of being primaried, they’re afraid of being tweeted about,” the governor said.
