Mueller Quietly Established His Credibility and Re-Focused the Agenda: Part 1, the Problem

Special Counsel Robert Mueller, appointed to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election, spoke yesterday to explain his team’s principal decisions. His speech brilliantly established his credibility.

What Is Credibility?

Rhetorica

In his book Ars Rhetorica, Greek philosopher Aristotle explained thousands of years ago that the means of persuasion are logos (the speaker’s proof and argument), pathos (emotional appeals), and ethos (the speaker’s credibility). Aristotle said that credibility was the most powerful: the speaker’s “character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.”

In his brief speech, Mueller did not establish his character by boasting about his  credentials, but by speaking in measured, careful tones that gave his critics no ammunition against him, while he praised his team’s integrity and his investigation’s thoroughness. He took the issue of character off the table. In this post, I talk about why Mueller, an esteemed public servant, needed to deal with a credibility problem. In the next post, I’ll explain how he overcame it.

Mueller’s Rhetorical Situation

Communication scholar Lloyd Bitzer wrote that certain “rhetorical situations” cry out for speech. Mueller faced such a situation. His investigation threatens Donald Trump’s presidency. Partisan responses range from Democrats calling for Trump’s immediate impeachment to Republicans claiming that Mueller had cleared Trump of wrongdoing. Wishing to demonstrate that his report was objective, Mueller needed to overcome partisan responses on both sides – not just one. Only a personal appearance and speech could accomplish that. 

Mueller had a credibility problem because, angry that Mueller’s investigation looked into his own actions, Trump had repeatedly complained about Mueller and his “18 Angry Democrats:”

or the “13 Angry Democrats” supposedly leaking to the "Fake News Media:"

(I’ve never understood where Trump found his different numbers. How many angry Democrats did he think Mueller hired? We may never know.)

Trump has never, even once, refuted the specifics of Mueller’s findings. He has quarreled with none of Mueller’s facts. So far, all he has done to defend himself is to launch personal attacks against Mueller and his team. That made Mueller's credibility the investigation's number one, two, and three public issues. Everything else was in the background. But, if he could reestablish his credibility, Mueller could refocus attention on the issues. 

Why Would Trump Care?

Mueller’s detailed report presented extensive evidence that the Russian government and various Russian civilians and actively attacked the integrity of the United States’ 2016 presidential election. A number of indictments were presented and some of Trump's close advisers have been convicted of serious but ancillary crimes. Part one of the report detailed extensive but apparently legal contacts between the Trump campaign and various Russians. Part two documented numerous instances in which President Trump tried to interfere with the Russia investigation. Mueller's team asked Trump to answer several questions in writing. The appendix clearly shows that Trump gave cursory answers to most of the Special Counsel’s questions while ignoring some of them completely.

Although the Special Counsel’s report did not establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign in Russia, it includes material that puts the president in a very bad light indeed. This disappointed both sides: Democrats wanted Mueller to prove that Trump had engaged in a conspiracy, while Republicans hoped for his exoneration. Each side is trying to see in the report what they want to see. Democrats are calling for impeachment, while Trump falsely claims to have been cleared. Attorney General William Barr muddied the picture when he reset the agenda in Trump’s favor by twisting Mueller’s findings. Mueller needed to convince Democrats that his investigation was thorough and was not a whitewash, while also showing Republicans that politics did not motivate his findings.

The Question Was Credibility

Motivated, to all appearances, strictly by a sense of duty, Mueller did not need to establish the details of his findings. Those were explained in his report of more than 400 pages. What he needed to do was to convince both sides that he did his job fairly and comprehensively. That was a credibility question, not a factual question. He needed to calm the passions, take his own personality out of the picture, and put public attention back onto the facts. In the next post, which I hope to post later today or early tomorrow, I will explain how Mueller accomplished that goal and forced his critics to change their tactics.

Here's my follow-up. 


Image: Personified picture of Rhetorica. I don't think she was actually a Greek goddess, but  isn't it a great picture? The sword symbolizes the power of persuasion, while the trumpets show how loud Rhetorica can get.