Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano said Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report on the investigation into Russia’s election interference likely contains some evidence of conspiracy between Russia and President Trump’s campaign.
“I think that [Rep. Adam] Schiff [(D-Calif.)] is correct: In that report will be evidence of the existence of a conspiracy, not enough evidence to prove the existence beyond a reasonable doubt,” Napolitano said while speaking with host Neil Cavuto on Fox Business Network.
{mosads}The House Intelligence Committee chairman has maintained that “there is collusion” despite the summary of the report provided to Congress by Attorney General William Barr that says Mueller did not conclude there was criminal collusion or conspiracy.
“In that report will be evidence of obstruction of justice, interfering with an FBI investigation for a personal gain, but not enough evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” Napolitano continued.
Napolitano acknowledged that he is unaware whether Schiff, who is leading a House investigation into Trump’s links with Russia, has information that Mueller doesn’t. But he added that Schiff would have “to decide when and under what circumstances to reveal those sources” if he does have such information.
Napolitano later added that “what’s in the report, what’s in the raw evidence, remains to be revealed.”
Barr sent a four-page letter to Congress on Sunday stating that Mueller did not uncover evidence to conclude that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
The letter noted that Mueller did not make a definitive conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. But Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided Mueller did not provide sufficient evidence of obstruction of justice to pursue it. The investigation does not exonerate Trump of obstruction of justice, according to the letter.
Trump and many of his GOP allies in Congress have argued that the letter completely exonerates the president. Schiff has meanwhile maintained that there is evidence of a collusion.
“There was a big difference between whether there was evidence of collusion — and I think that evidence is in plain sight — and whether you can establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt of a criminal conspiracy,” he told CNN on Monday.
Several Republican lawmakers have called on Schiff to step down as Intelligence chairman in the wake of Barr’s letter. Trump said Thursday that Schiff should be forced to resign.
Schiff defended himself against those calls during an Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday, saying that “my colleagues may think it is OK the president’s son was offered dirt as part of an effort to help Trump.”
“You might think it is OK. I don’t,” Schiff said.
Napolitano’s remarks about Schiff come a day after he predicted that Mueller’s report would “undoubtedly” contain “some evidence of a conspiracy and some evidence of obstruction of justice.”