HBO’s Bill Maher returned to Real Time after more than a month off on Friday and, against the backdrop of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claiming that assessments that Vladimir Putin preferred Donald Trump to win in 2016 were false and politicized, tried desperately to cling to the Mueller Probe, insisting there was something there.
During the panel discussion with New York Times opinion writer James Kirchick and Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, Maher tried to cast doubt on Gabbard’s conclusions, “Russia-gate was not a nothing burger. It was a burger. Maybe it wasn't a juicy steak, but it was a burger. I would like to show you one little piece of tape, and we can talk about it that I remember because their contention is that, you know, Putin had no preference in the election. That's why we know this was a conspiracy of Obama. I remember this from Helsinki. This is—they're asking Putin directly in Helsinki.”
In the clip, Reuters reporter Jeff Mason asked Putin, “Did you want President Trump to win the election, and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?” Putin replied through an interpreter, “Yes, I did. Yes, I did.”
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