White House implied Trump is using the word 'exonerated' in a 'spiritual way': political reporter
In a Tuesday panel discussion, New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi noted that the White House was dismissive of President Donald Trump's claim of being fully exonerated by Robert Mueller.
Speaking about the president's allegations that Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) could be handed all of Trump's documents and it still wouldn't be enough. Trump is now saying that releasing the special counsel's report is "too much" and he's lost interest in it.
"And by saying that they're also kind of implying anybody asking for more transparency, anybody who wants to see the full report which obviously includes a lot of Americans and certainly includes the media, is also asking for too much," Nuzzi told CNN's Don Lemon. "Which of course is not what they were saying when this letter first came out."
She noted that Lemon said Mueller didn't use the word "exoneration," rather he did as quoted by Attorney General Bill Barr.
"He said this did not exonerate [Trump]," she continued. "So, when I was having conversations with White House officials over the last week, I would say well, 'What do you mean he's fully exonerated? It says right here that he was not.' And they were kind of implying, 'Oh, he's using it in a spiritual way, the letter is using it in a literal way, but that's not the way the president was using it or the White House was using it.'"
She called it ridiculous, but it's how the White House can navigate the president's inaccurate statements.
Watch the full panel discussion below: