On May 17, 2017, when Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel, President Trump was beside himself. According to notes written by Jody Hunt, who was then chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Trump said:
If you stop reading there, it looks pretty damning. It looks as if Trump is admitting guilt and that he thinks Mueller will quickly find evidence that will chase Trump from the White House. “He said this because of how innocent he is,” read one snarky tweet from MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
But if you keep reading the full context of the quote (page 78, volume II of Mueller’s report) a different picture emerges. Trump continued:
Trump didn’t call it the end of his presidency because he was afraid Mueller would find collusion and Congress would impeach Trump. He was afraid it would derail and distract from everything else he wanted to do: build the wall, repeal Obamacare, tax reform, etc.
Just ask former President Bill Clinton how the investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr affected his presidency.
Of course, complaining about investigations into the executive is something guilty presidents do too (looking at you, Richard Nixon).
