As the House Intelligence Committee hearing in which former FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been questioned on his report of whether there was Russian interference in the 2016 election drags on, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) used his time to attempt to re-educate Mueller on exactly what "exonerate" means.
Turner brought up that media outlets, like CNN, have been using the headline "Mueller: Trump Was Not Exonerated." The problem with that phrase is that no one, not even Attorney General William Barr, can exonerate anyone because it's "not a legal term," which Turner brought up that Mueller admitted himself in earlier testimony on Wednesday.
Turner continued by explaining that since Barr doesn't have the authority to "exonerate" President Donald Trump, Mueller doesn't have the power to "exonerate" him, because Mueller can only be given powers equal to - but not greater than - the powers that Barr possesses.
"If your report is to the attorney general, and the attorney general doesn't have the power to exonerate - and he knows that you do not have that power - you don't have to tell him that you're not exonerating the president," Turner explained. "He knows this already."