CNN, MSNBC personalities 'read between the lines': Mueller urged impeachment, said Trump is a 'criminal'

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Following Special Counsel Robert Mueller's press briefing Wednesday, personalities on MSNBC and CNN gleaned that the former FBI director was actually saying the president was guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be impeached, an analysis from the conservative website Newsbusters concluded.

"Wednesday’s coverage resembled a series of English literature classes, with journalists reading passages from Mueller’s briefing and taking turns speculating about their deeper meaning," Newsbusters' Bill D'Agostino wrote in an article published Thursday.

Mueller's press briefing prompted mixed reactions as some Democrats called for impeachment and the Trump campaign said the president was "exonerated." Although the special counsel didn't explicitly clear the president of any potential charges, he also didn't tell Congress to impeach the president.

He also indicated that Congress could further investigate the obstruction issue as he was unable to prosecute the president because of a DOJ policy against that practice.

CHRIS CHRISTIE CLAIMS MUELLER'S STATEMENT 'CLEARLY CONTRADICTS' AG BARR'S SUMMARY

But according to MSNBC's Chris Hayes, Mueller essentially called Trump a "criminal." “Reading between the lines, Mueller came before the American people today and said, ‘Look, the President is a criminal, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it,'" he said on Wednesday.

The conservative watchdog compiled a video with a long list of figures it said hinted at a meaning beyond Mueller's actual words.

“Essentially, Mueller told the country that the President is not innocent,” CNN anchor Brianna Keilar reportedly said. MSNBC analyst John Heilemann and CNN correspondent Dana Bash both indicated that Mueller passed the torch to Congress for further action.

WILL CONGRESS BEGIN IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS?

“He basically is saying, ‘Congress, please, by God, do your work,’” Heilemann reportedly said. Another commentator remarked that Mueller contradicted Attorney General William Barr.

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"He did say today essentially that Barr lied to the American people," an MSNBC personality said. On the same network, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie similarly claimed that Mueller's statement "clearly contradicts" Barr's summary of the Mueller report.

“Those comments by Bob Mueller about the other processes — obviously impeachment being the only constitutional way — definitely contradicts what the Attorney General said when he summarized Mueller’s report and said he then had to draw the conclusion on that," Christie said on Wednesday.