A man yearning for the ordinariness of retirement or a shrewd legal mind conveying a dark truth about the President of the United States?
It was hard to watch Robert Mueller face the cameras on Wednesday and not waver between the two assessments. The man who America – and, indeed, the world – had been waiting to hear from wasn’t quite what we expected. His is still the former Director of the FBI, a Marine veteran, and a loyal servant to his country. Yet, he also seemed camera shy, reticent, and just a little worn down by the two-year investigation. The burden must have been something for a 74-year-old, so it’s understandable if there was a sense that his speech amounted to “keep me out of this childish squabble”. Yet that wasn’t what he wanted to say to the American public. This, as far as Mueller will ever go, was a public display of defiance. It was a scream of indignation which amounted to: please let my report speak for itself and for me!
