SHAME OF THRONES
Trump claims victory..but he’s not in clear
BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN GLOATING Donald Trump likened himself to a Game of Thrones hero – despite Robert Mueller’s Russia report not clearing him of obstructing justice.
The US president revelled in the 448-page document being published although it showed he thought he was “f*****” when the probe began in 2017 – and tried to get Mueller removed as special counsel.
Yesterday, Trump tweeted a meme of himself from the hit HBO fantasy show looking out to the horizon, surrounded by dramatic mist.
It read: “No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left democrats – Game Over.”
Speaking at the White House, he later added: “I’m having a good day.”
But despite his bravado, Mueller’s investigation into potential Russian collusion did not clear Trump, saying Congress could find him guilty.
The revelation came an hour after the president’s attorney ge n e ra l William Barr said he had personally cleared him of the crime.
Mueller’s report into Russian collusion into the 2016 US election read: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would state so.
“However, we’re unable to reach that judgment. Accordingly, while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.’
That judgment was seized on by Democrats already furious that Barr used a press conference to announce the findings of the report before Congress or the public had seen it – but after it had been given to Trump’s attorneys to review.
The report revealed that in May 2017, after Trump learned from then-attorney general Jeff Sessions that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had appointed Mueller, Trump “slumped back in his chair and said, ‘ Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m f*****.’”
According to the document, “The president said, ‘Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me.’”
A month later, Trump called former White House lawyer Don McGahn and told him to call the acting attorney general and say Mueller “had conflicts of interest and must be removed”.
McGahn declined, deciding that he’d “rather resign than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre”.