'Optics' of Mueller hearings were a 'disaster' for Democrats, NBC's Chuck Todd admits

close

Video

Trump takes victory lap as Mueller hearings fail to give Democrats bombshell moments

Former special report Robert Mueller stays tight-lipped on Capitol Hill amid Democratic efforts to vilify President Trump; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'

Democrats succeeded in getting "substance" from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Capitol Hill testimony Wednesday, but the "optics" were a "disaster," according to NBC Political Director Chuck Todd.

The comments from the host of "Meet the Press" came after NBC "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie said Democrats hoped to use Mueller's testimony as a way to "capture and captivate Americans' attention and focus them on the issues here."

"If that was the goal, it's a complete failure on that front," Todd responded. He added that the "optics" of the testimony were a "disaster" because Mueller seemed "uncomfortable" during appearances before the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee.

CNN HOST TAKES ISSUE WITH TRUMP TWEET AFTER ROBERT MUELLER HEARING

"As they were using him for clarity, he'd somehow fog it up," Todd said. He added that Mueller's testimony, in some ways, did provide what Democrats were hoping for.

"On substance, Democrats got what they wanted," Todd said. "They got him to confirm that he didn't make a charge [against President Trump] because of the Justice Department memo" -- a reference to the agency's policy of not indicting a sitting president.

But Mueller "confirmed that you can still indict [Trump] on these charges after he leaves office," Todd said, referring to possible obstruction-of-justice allegations. "And [Mueller] seemed to confirm the idea that under any other circumstance, he likely would have filed some charges."

Todd's colleagues on MSNBC seemed to downplay the effectiveness of Mueller's testimony.

Jeremy Bash, who served in the Defense Department and CIA during former President Obama's administration, blasted Mueller's testimony as "boring" and called the 74-year-old former FBI director "ineffective" in defending his work on the two-year-long Russia investigation.

"I fear that this hearing set back efforts to hold the president accountable," Bash said after Mueller's testimony on Wednesday.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Bash also seemed to lament Mueller's lack of "passion" about whether Trump's conduct was "concerning."

Former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., similarly blasted Mueller as "not a very good witness" and argued that Democrats "have to be disappointed" with his seemingly tepid defense of his investigative team and their work on the Russia probe. McCaskill added that Democrats failed to bring the Russia issue "to life," noting that they framed the hearing as something more than it turned out to be.