John Oliver unpacked the most crucial details of the long-awaited Mueller report on Sundays Last Week Tonight, continuing the saga he once-dubbed Stupid Watergate. He focused the segment on two main factors that may have saved President Trump: incompetence when it comes to conspiracy with Russia and disobedience when it comes to obstruction of justice.
While Robert Muellers team determined that the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, they were less specific on the obstruction charge, writing, While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him. The report describes 10 episodes of potential obstruction, noting, If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.
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Oliver called that assessment a pretty conspicuous non-exoneration that conflicts with Trumps view of No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION.
If you were interviewing a job applicant and they told you, Just so you know: I wasnt found guilty of fucking my neighbors mailboxes, but I also specifically wasnt found innocent, you wouldnt necessarily rule them out, but youd definitely think twice about hiring them,' the comedian cracked.
After highlighting some of the reports incredible details (like Trump finding out about the investigation, slumping back in his chair and uttering, Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. Im fucked.), Oliver examined the incompetence related to conspiracy including the actions of Michael Cohen. The former Trump attorney was in contact with Russians throughout the campaign, mostly concerning Trumps aim to build a tower in Moscow and his many blunders included using a misspelled email address for Vladimir Putins press spokesman Dimitri Peskova and confusing the identity of Dmitry Klokov, a former press secretary to Russias energy minister.
An ex-wife of Klokov contacted Ivanka Trump, offering his assistance to the Trump campaign. She forwarded the email to Cohen, who then Googled Klokovs name and determined he was a former Olympic weightlifter by the same name. The real Klokov apparently continued to reach out in attempts to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin messages that Cohen ignored. Even during his Mueller interviews, the report notes, Cohen still appeared to believe that the Klokov he spoke with was that Olympian.
The report found multiple instances where people tied to the Russian government offered Trumps campaign assistance, and in some instances the campaign was receptive,' Oliver noted. But the thing that seemed to stop closer coordination from happening was often cartoonish levels of disorganization and incompetence on top of which, there were times when the Trump teams ignorance of basic legal concepts seems to have actively helped shield them criminal liability, most notably when it came to the infamous Trump Tower meeting between featuring Don Jr., Jared [Kushner], Paul Manafort and a Russian offering more dirt.
Moving to the obstruction issue, Oliver observed, Despite ample evidence that he tried to do it, everyone around him was too disobedient to listen a fact he deemed both reassuring and terrifying. Trump ordered at least 10 current and former administration officials or associates including former FBI director James Comey and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to do things that might constitute obstruction, but they didnt listen.
One such episode involved Trump calling former White House counsel Don McGahn and directing him to have Mueller removed. McGahn refused, but Trump kept asking, until the point where McGahn prepared to resign, citing the Presidents demands to have him do crazy shit.
Preparing to quit because youre being asked to do crazy shit isnt what you expect from the White House counsel, Oliver said. Its what you expect from Nicolas Cages personal assistant.
Oliver also criticized Trumps current Attorney General, William Barr, for [downplaying the reports] contents in his letter summarizing it to Congress and holding a preemptive press conference to spin the reports contents, repeating Trumps favorite phrase, no collusion, and making excuses for the president.
During the press conference, Barr claimed that The White House fully cooperated with the special counsels investigation and that the president took no act that in fact deprived the special counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation.
But that is, at best, a gross mischaracterization of what the report actually said, Oliver argued. Because full cooperation would have involved sitting down for an interview, which Trump did not do. And Mueller not only found Trumps answers inadequate, but he also wrote that he engaged in efforts to curtail the Special Counsels investigation and prevent the disclosure of evidence to it including through public and private contacts with potential witnesses.
Americans dont know the full story of the Mueller investigation, given the numerous redactions from the report and its references to investigations handed off to other prosecutors. Much of what we do know, Oliver noted, is disturbing though its important to face the truth head-on.
Russia interfered in our election and made efforts to help Trump win, and while his campaign did not provably cooperate with Russia, they seemed eager to accept their help in a way that no one should be comfortable with, he said. Also, Trump may have obstructed justice and if he didnt, it might only be because people who work for him ignored his orders. And on top of all of this, the Attorney General, the nations top law enforcement official, has proven himself to be a dishonest hack. And Im not saying that any of that is good news. But it is definitely good that we know about it.