Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday offered some odd descriptions of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation: “Exotic” and “very objective.”
During a press conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Putin shared his thoughts on the Mueller probe.
“However exotic the work of special counsel Mueller was, I have to say that on the whole, he had a very objective investigation,” Putin said, according to a translator.
It’s a strange comment, to say the least, considering that Mueller did establish that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to benefit Trump. And apparently Putin’s opinion puts him at odds with President Donald Trump, who’s repeatedly yelled about the Russia investigation being a “hoax.”
The Russian president said that Mueller’s report “confirmed” there were “no traces whatsoever of collusion” between Russia and the Trump campaign.
It’s true that Mueller couldn’t establish a conspiracy between the two parties, but his report details how the investigation was “materially impaired” by lying witnesses and deleted documents.
Pompeo’s comments on the meeting didn’t seem to indicate that he’d pressed the Russian president on election interference any harder than Trump had.
“We’ll protect our nation’s interest,” Pompeo said. “But there are places that our two countries can find where we can be cooperative, we can be productive, we can be accumulative.”
Watch Reuter’s video below:
