Special counsel Robert Mueller's wish to avoid televised testimony before Congress is driven by his reluctance to broadcast the "dirty story" of Attorney General William Barr, a former Assistant Attorney General for the criminal division suggest on Thursday.
Bill Weld was appointed U.S. Attorney and Assistant Attorney General by then-President Ronald Reagan. He went on to serve as the Republican governor of Massachusetts and is currently challenging President Donald Trump in the 2020 GOP primary.
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell interviewed the former Justice Department insider following the news that Mueller is seeking "private testimony" before the House Judiciary Committee.
"As you see the special prosecutor making this unprecedented choice -- basically unprecedented since television cameras first went into hearing rooms -- what is your reaction tonight to Robert Mueller saying I’m ready to testify but no cameras?" O'Donnell asked.
"Well, Lawrence, I think that Bob Mueller is totally up to testifying in public," Weld replied. "He was head of the FBI for twelve years. He was grilled by Congress -- both parties -- many, many times."
Mueller had been Weld's deputy at the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston.
"I think what’s going on here is Bob is so straight, that he doesn’t necessarily want to say how the process has been perverted," he suggested.
"And my reading of what happened behind closed doors -- Bob Mueller’s report says we decided not to make a traditional prosecutive judgment because we really couldn’t. Translation, Bill Barr told me that he was going to squash any indictment I tried to bring against the president for obstruction," he continued.
"That’s a dirty story," he added.
"Bob Mueller doesn’t want to have to tell that on TV. I think that’s exactly what’s going on here," he concluded. "He’s such a gentleman."
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