MSNBC hosts name Mueller as ‘most impactful’ person of year

MSNBC hosts Brian Williams and Nicolle Wallace named special counsel Robert Mueller as the most impactful figure of 2017 during a network special Sunday night.

“The Year’s 10 Most … with Brian Williams and Nicolle Wallace” also included President Trump’s Twitter account in the top 10, as well as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Russian President Vladimir Putin, ex-NFL star Colin Kaepernick and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Since winning the election on Nov. 8, 2016, Trump has tweeted more than 2,600 times to his more than 44 million followers in what appears to be an attempt to set narratives for news cycles throughout the day.

McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, made headlines on several occasions in 2017. In September, he cast the deciding vote against a GOP repeal and replace effort on ObamaCare, sending it to defeat by a one-vote margin in the Senate. He was also diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer over the summer.

Putin has been at the center of the Russian cloud hovering over the Trump administration. The former KGB officer has denied Russian involvement in the 2016 election, most recently calling it “spy hysteria” on Dec. 14.

Kaepernick has made headlines by not getting an NFL job since playing last year. The protest movement he sparked remains, and he has won several awards including GQ’s “Citizen of the Year” amid talk that team owners have blackballed him from the league.

Flynn was fired just three weeks into his tenure as national security adviser for lying about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions imposed on Russia during the Obama administration.

He has since pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI and is currently cooperating with the special counsel’s investigation.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who was highly critical of President Trump during relief efforts in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, also made the list, as did outgoing Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a staunch critic of the president.

Wallace tells The Hill the selection process was anything but formal.

“The selection process was unscientific and fun. The special was like all my conversations with Brian,” explained Wallace, a former communications director under President George W. Bush.

Williams is the host of “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams,” which airs weeknights at 11 p.m. Wallace anchors “Deadline: White House” weekdays at 4 p.m.