Former CIA Director John Brennan said Monday he “suspected” special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation would reveal “more than there actually was.”
“I don’t know if I received bad information, but I think I suspected there was more than there actually was,” Brennan said during an interview with MSNBC on Monday.
On Sunday, Attorney General William Barr shared a summary of Mueller’s findings with Congress, which stated that the investigation “did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
“I am relieved that it’s been determined there was not a criminal conspiracy with the Russian government over our election,” Brennan said. “I think that is good news for the country.”
Less than three weeks ago Brennan appeared on MSNBC predicting more indictments as part of Mueller’s investigation, which never came to pass.
Brennan said Monday he thought there were clear examples of inappropriate attempts to communicate with the Russians, but at the same time was “not all that surprised that the high bar of criminal conspiracy was not met.”
Brennan also said he was surprised Mueller did not determine whether Trump obstructed justice. Barr quotes Mueller saying “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him,” after which the attorney general said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein found there was a lack of “sufficient” evidence to determine whether Trump obstructed justice.
[Opinion: Democrats will never be satisfied so there’s no reason to release the full Robert Mueller report]
