Karl joined “The View” to discuss the potential impact of the New York Times report regarding the FBI’s counter-intelligence investigation into ties between President Donald Trump and Russia during the 2016 campaign.
Karl responded by poking holes in the NYT report, explaining that — based on the available information — the fact that such an investigation was opened said more about the political bias of the leadership within the FBI than it did about anything Trump had actually done.
“I think there are reasons to be skeptical but I think the biggest one is what happened afterward,” Karl noted, pointing out the fact that once special counsel Robert Mueller took over the Russia probe, he made no move to carry on with that counter-intelligence investigation. “There is no indication that Robert Mueller picked up any of this.
”Karl went on to say that Mueller’s report could come out in the coming weeks and that he believed it might be anti-climactic. “He’s already gotten more than 30 indictments, the president’s inner circle, his campaign chairman convicted, his national security adviser indicted, his personal lawyer.
”But then he reiterated his earlier point, saying that nothing had come out that suggests the president actually did anything wrong with regard to Russia. “So much has already been there, but on the central question of did Donald Trump or anybody in his campaign coordinator collude with the Russians in their effort to meddle in the 2016 campaign, we have seen zero evidence of that.
”Joy Behar jumped in then, asking, “What about Manafort?”
Karl explained that Manafort’s indictment was an issue of personal corruption and not a clear case of collusion of any kind