Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on Sunday compared special counsel Robert Mueller’s explanation of not recommending obstruction of justice charges against President Donald Trump to the comically roundabout legalese used by Pinocchio in the third “Shrek” movie. The senator also falsely said Mueller hadn’t presented any evidence to back up a potential obstruction violation.
“I find pieces of the report a little bit odd,” Lee said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “For example, when he talks about obstruction, I think it’s odd to say I’m not going to make a recommendation but I’m going to sound like I’m making a recommendation. There’s not evidence that I can point to, but nonetheless I couldn’t get there even if I did.”
“It’s kind of strange to spend two years on that and then speak with sort of a tone that is reminiscent of Pinocchio in the movie Shrek Three,” Lee continued, before paraphrasing Mueller: “I’m not going to say that I’m not deciding.”
“It’s full of double negatives, it’s kind of confusing.”
Though Mueller did provide evidence that Trump obstructed justice, he did not recommend charging Trump with the violation — in fact, he “determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment” at all — in part because an existing Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memo prevents the prosecution of a sitting president.
Mueller did note, however, that “a President does not have immunity after he leaves office” and that “we are unable to reach [the] judgment” that Trump “clearly did not commit obstruction of justice.”
Watch below:
Utah @SenMikeLee calls parts of the Mueller report a little bit odd. “It's kind of strange to spend 2 years on [obstruction] and then speak with the sort of tone that is reminiscent of Pinocchio in the movie Shrek 3…It's full of double negatives. It's kind of confusing.” pic.twitter.com/wIZzNEqiT5
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 21, 2019
