Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) called some of President Trump’s actions detailed in the Mueller report “inappropriate,” marking a break in tone with the rhetoric of the president and many Republican allies.
Portman, while on a trip with other senators in Vietnam, read the report released yesterday on the special investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
When the Republican from Cincinnati released his statement today, it wasn’t as full-throated a defense of Trump as those issued by many of his colleagues.
He didn’t call the report an “exoneration” of Trump or, as Ohio GOP chairman Jane Timken put it yesterday, “a complete and utter exoneration.”
Portman characterized some of the actions of Trump and those around the president as inappropriate but not criminal.
Even on obstruction of justice, Portman worded his statement carefully, noting others had concluded there was not “sufficient evidence” for charges – not that Trump was cleared.
Mueller made clear the report did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice.
{READ: Mueller Report Does Not Clear Trump Of Obstruction Of Justice}
The report also detailed “numerous links” between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, even though investigators “did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated.”
Portman went on to express concerns about the evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
“There are new details about the extent to which the Russians worked to undermine our democracy and I hope that the House and Senate review these findings carefully and continue to work together to ensure this type of election interference never, ever happens again,” Portman said in the statement.
Portman refused to vote for Trump in 2016, but announced his support of the president’s reelection bid back in January.
Portman was planning to vote for Trump, but he changed his mind after a video emerged of the former reality TV host engaging in a graphic exchange about women.
“While I continue to respect those who still support Donald Trump, I can no longer support him,” Portman said at the time.
Now, Portman says he intends to support the Republican incumbent in 2020, according to a report from the Independent Journal Review.
“Well, he’s the incumbent. I mean, he’s in office, I work with him every day,” Portman said.