The journalists at CBS This Morning on Thursday looked for coded, “embedded” messages from Robert Mueller that might have been calls for impeachment. They found clues indicating that the retiring special counsel “wants” Democrats “to do it.”
Co-host Tony Dokoupil divined hidden meanings, asking reporter Major Garrett: “What words stood out to you? What messages were embedded in those remarks?” Garrett defined the prosecutor’s remarks as styled after a Jeopardy questions: “There’s a process other than the Justice Department to charge a sitting president. What’s the answer? The answer is impeachment.”
He then speculated on “implicit” suggestions from Mueller: “And it’s now up to House Democrats to take that implicit and explicit message from the Special Counsel.” Earlier in the show, reporter Paula Reid related, “Many Democrats, including a number of candidates for President, took Mueller's statement as call to impeach.”
Co-host Gayle King explained what the Democrats “believe” Mueller is secretly telling them to do:
A growing number of Democrats including, some presidential candidates, say that Congress must start an impeachment investigation of President Trump. They believe that Robert Mueller wants them to do it.
Reid played a montage of 2020 presidential candidates who had already concluded what the meaning was:
PETE BUTTIGIEG: This is as close to an impeachment referral as you can get under the circumstances.
JULIAN CASTRO: He's laying this at the lap of the Democrats to go forward.
KAMALA HARRIS: I would suggest he told us enough to interpret it as a referral to impeachment standings.
BETO O’ROURKE: He's demanding we do it now or forever lose the opportunity to act.
Transcripts are below. Click “expand” to find more.
CBS This Morning
5/30/19
7am teaseGAYLE KING: Good morning to you, and welcome to CBS this morning. No exoneration. Special counsel Robert Mueller refuses to clear President Trump and more Democrats say it's time for an impeachment investigation.
...
7:03:39
CBS GRAPHIC: Road to Impeachment? Democrats Intensify Calls After Special Counsel’s Remarks
KING: We're going to begin with this. A growing number of Democrats including, some presidential candidates, say that congress must start an impeachment investigation of President Trump. They believe that Robert Mueller wants them to do it.
ANTHONY MASON: The former Special Counsel spoke about the Russian investigation for the first time yesterday. Mueller emphasized his final report did not clear the President of suspected criminality. Paula Reid is at the White House. Paula, how did Mueller's remarks change the narrative here?
PAULA REID: Well, Anthony, in just ten minutes, Mueller cut months of President Trump's spin claiming that the special counsel had cleared the President on obstruction of justice.
ROBERT MUELLER: If we had had confidence that the President clearly had not committed a crime, we would have said so.
REID: Robert Mueller used his first public statement in two years to make it clear he did not exonerate the President of obstruction of justice.
MUELLER: We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the President committed a crime.
DONALD TRUMP: No collusion. No obstruction.
REID: President Trump previously claimed the report did exonerate him after his attorney general William Barr cleared him of obstruction. But yesterday, President Trump appeared to take a more nuanced approach, tweeting, “There was insufficient evidence and therefore in our country a person is innocent.” Mueller implied he could not charge the President because of a Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
MUELLER: It would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of the actual charge.
REID: He then suggested it was up to Congress to pursue the evidence he's uncovered.
MUELLER: The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrongdoing.
REID: Many Democrats including a number of candidates for President took Mueller's statement as call to impeach.
PETE BUTTIGIEG: This is as close to an impeachment referral as you can get under the circumstances.
JULIAN CASTRO: He's laying this at the lap of the Democrats to go forward.
KAMALA HARRIS: I would suggest he told us enough to interpret it as a referral to impeachment standings.
BETO O’ROURKE: He's demanding we do it now or forever lose the opportunity to act.
REID: Mueller said he hopes this is his last comment on the matter but Nancy Pelosi has other
plans.NANCY PELOSI: Yes, I think it would be useful for him to testify before Congress.
REID: Mueller wants to make sure despite all the controversy swirling around the President that his investigation contained extensive efforts by Russia to interfere in the 2016 election. He charged dozens of Russian nationals, though it’s unlikely any of them will ever see the inside of a U.S. court room. Tony?
7:06 AM ET
TONY DOKOUPIL: All right, Paula. Thank you very much. House Democrats are weighing their next step after Mueller’s statement. His words put more pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to start an impeachment inquiry. Pelosi says we still don't have all the facts. Nancy Cordes is on Capitol Hill. Nancy, the Democratic Party had been split on the impeachment. Are they still?
NANCY CORDES: Still deeply split, Tony. But there were some converts to the impeach camp after Mueller spoke. They viewed his remarks as essentially him tossing the ball Congress’s way and saying, “It’s time for Congress to act.” Nancy Pelosi, however, speaking in San Francisco made it clear she still prefers to wait. She said it's important for Congress to build its own airtight case before resorting to impeachment proceedings because otherwise it's doomed to fail in the Republican-controlled Senate. The House Intelligence Committee has recently worked out a deal with the Department of Justice to get its hands on some of that previously redacted material from the Mueller report. So, once they're able to get a look at that, that could help determine where Congress goes from here.
ANTHONY MASON: Nancy, Mr. Mueller made it clear he hoped those remarks would be his last. Nancy Pelosi, as we heard, wants him to testify. What are the chances of that actually happening?
CORDES: Well, the negotiations are ongoing. He had indicated that if he were to testify, he would prefer to do most of it behind closed doors. Democrats obviously prefer the spectacle of him testifying in an open setting because they believe every time he talks about the President's lying or talks about obstruction of justice, itjust helps them to build their case.
8:03 AM ET
DOKOUPIL: Major, Robert Mueller chooses his words very carefully. What words stood out to you? What messages were embedded in those remarks?
MAJOR GARRETT: Well, I don't really think this is a process by which you have to read between the lines. It was almost a Jeopardy question the way Robert Mueller put it yesterday. There’s a process other than the Justice Department to charge a sitting president. What’s the answer? The answer is impeachment. I mean, essentially, that is the way Robert Mueller laid this before Congress. And it’s now up to House Democrats to take that implicit and explicit message from the Special Counsel.
