Robert De Niro to Mueller: “The Country Needs to Hear Your Voice”

Robert De Niro has never been shy to share his political stance. For the last few years, hes focused on insulting Donald Trump in whatever way possible, from wanting to punch the president in the face to shouting “Fuck Trump” into every microphone that appears before him. His laundry list of insults for the current president runs quite deep; he has called Trump a pig, a bullshit artist, a fucking idiot, and a fucking fool.

But now—now—De Niro is pointing his political finger in Robert Muellers direction. Hes speaking Robert to Robert, Bobby to Bobby. In a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday, the Oscar-winning actor implored Mueller to speak up about Trumps possible obstruction. The special counsel, who spoke to reporters in a news conference on Wednesday, has not been vocal enough about Trumps potential crimes, De Niro argued.

“In your news conference, you said that your investigations work speaks for itself. It doesnt,” De Niro wrote. “It may speak for itself to lawyers and lawmakers who have the patience and obligation to read through the more than 400 pages of carefully chosen words and nuanced conclusions (with all due respect, as good a read as it is, youre no Stephen King).”

Like everyone else, De Niro has spent nearly the last two years waiting for the results of Muellers hotly anticipated report (the delivery of which has been spectacularly bungled). During much of that time, De Niro has also had the privilege of portraying Mueller on Saturday Night Live, playing the government official with the aid of a determinedly squat jaw prosthetic. The actor opened his Times op-ed with a mention of his S.N.L. portrayal, later writing about how much it taught him about Mueller in real life. “As I prepared for my role on the show, I got to know you a lot better. I read about your lifetime devotion to public service and your respect for the rule of law,” De Niro wrote. “I watched how you presided over the special counsels office apparently without leaks.”

But after that careful flattery, the actor went back to lightly reprimanding Mueller. In his piece, he highlighted Muellers Wednesday press conference, in which the official implied that he would not want to testify publicly because “the report is my testimony.” For De Niro, that sentiment wasnt strong enough.

“The country needs to hear your voice. Your actual voice,” De Niro said. “And not just because you dont want them to think that your actual voice sounds like Robert De Niro reading from cue cards, but because this is the report your country asked you to do, and now you must give it authority and clarity without, if I may use the term, obstruction. . . . You are the voice of the Mueller report. Let the country hear that voice.”

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