During an appearance on Fox News this Wednesday, former Independent Counsel Ken Starr accused former Special Counsel Robert Mueller of conducting his investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in a partisan manner.
“The entire process has been so unfortunate, to be honest — and I love Bob Mueller as a human being, as a patriot — but I think he has done a grave disservice to our country in the way he conducted this investigation,” Starr said in a clip flagged by Mediaite. “By the way, he said time and again, ‘I don’t question the politics of my staff,’” said Starr on Fox News. “I understand that. But you aren’t blind to what your staff members are all about as human beings?”
Despite having great respect for Mueller as a “patriot,” Starr said that his testimony today was Mueller’s “finest hour.”
“Obviously he was going to be cautious today in what he said, but this was not Bob’s finest hour and so I agree with that sentiment that we should be grateful for all that he’s done to the country but it would seem today that he was not in command and control of what his office produced and it’s both a tragedy but it’s also been a disaster for the country,” Starr said.
Former Special Counsel Ken Starr says that one of the "great tragedies" of the Mueller hearing and investigation is the "unfortunate, I hope not long-lasting, erosion in the authority of the president." pic.twitter.com/VwtKxJYNVH
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 24, 2019
Fox News host Brett Baier then asked Starr how he felt about Mueller leaving the question of impeachment open for Congress to decide.
“My thought is I have to disagree with Bob Mueller,” Starr replied. “When I read Volume 2, it was designed for Congress. He turned himself into an independent counsel, with the reporting obligation to the Congress of the United States.”
Starr was named “Independent Counsel” during the Bill Clinton era because he was appointed by a federal judge, which made him unaccountable to the Department of Justice. Mueller was named “Special Counsel” because he was appointed by the attorney general and is accountable to the Department of Justice.
Featured image via screen grab
