Robert De Niro: Robert Mueller, We Need to Hear More
You said that your investigationâs work âspeaks for itself.â It doesnât.
By Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro as Robert Mueller on âSaturday Night Live.âCreditWill Heath/NBC
I
Dear Mr. Mueller,
It probably hasnât escaped your attention (in my mind, nothing escapes your attention) that I play a version of you on âSaturday Night Live.â As âRobert Mueller,â my character is intimidating because he is so honest and upright. I do it for comic effect â thatâs the intention anyway â but thereâs also a lot of truth to it. To put it another way â itâs good-natured fun, but not entirely good-natured.
Thereâs a level of satire, directed at the current administration. To be fair, not everyone appreciates the humor. The president has tweeted that thereâs ânothing funny about tired âSaturday Night Liveââ and that itâs âvery unfair and should be looked into,â even âtested in courts,â and âthis is the real collusion!â Though what or with whom the show would be colluding is unclear. But then I donât have to tell you about problems with the term âcollusion.â You barely mention the word in your report, and then only to explain why youâre not using it. That could be a punch line on âSaturday Night Live.â
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. I watched how you presided over the special counselâs office apparently without leaks. And you never wavered, even in the face of regular vicious attacks from the president and his surrogates.
While I and so many Americans have admired your quiet, confident, dignified response in ignoring that assault, it allowed the administration to use its own voice to control the narrative. And those voices are soloud and so persistent that they beat even reasonable people into submission. The loudest, most persistent voice belongs to the president himself, and under most circumstances, we want to believe our president.
speaks for itself.â It doesnât. 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, youâre no Stephen King).
Youâve characterized the report as your testimony, but you wouldnât accept that reason from anyone your office interviewed. Additional information and illumination emerge from responses to questions. I know youâre as uncomfortable in the spotlight as the president is out of it. I know you donât want to become part of the political spectacle surrounding Russiaâs crimes and your report on them. I know you will, however reluctantly, testify before Congress if called, because you respect the system and follow the rules, and I understand why youâd want to do it away from the public glare.
But the country needs to hear your voice. Your actual voice. And not just because you donât 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.
Weâve learned our lesson about what can happen to the perception of your work when interpreted in rabid tweets by the president, dissected by pundits all over the map, trumpeted in bizarre terms by the presidentâs absurd personal lawyer and distorted by the attorney general.
And if, in fact, you have nothing further to say about the investigation, for your public testimony, you could just read from the report in response to questions from members of Congress. Your life has been a shining example of bravely and selflessly doing things for the good of our country. I urge you to leave your comfort zone and do that again.
You are the voice of the Mueller report. Let the country hear that voice.
With great respect,
Robert De Niro
You said that your investigationâs work âspeaks for itself.â It doesnât.
By Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro as Robert Mueller on âSaturday Night Live.âCreditWill Heath/NBC
I
Dear Mr. Mueller,
It probably hasnât escaped your attention (in my mind, nothing escapes your attention) that I play a version of you on âSaturday Night Live.â As âRobert Mueller,â my character is intimidating because he is so honest and upright. I do it for comic effect â thatâs the intention anyway â but thereâs also a lot of truth to it. To put it another way â itâs good-natured fun, but not entirely good-natured.
Thereâs a level of satire, directed at the current administration. To be fair, not everyone appreciates the humor. The president has tweeted that thereâs ânothing funny about tired âSaturday Night Liveââ and that itâs âvery unfair and should be looked into,â even âtested in courts,â and âthis is the real collusion!â Though what or with whom the show would be colluding is unclear. But then I donât have to tell you about problems with the term âcollusion.â You barely mention the word in your report, and then only to explain why youâre not using it. That could be a punch line on âSaturday Night Live.â
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. I watched how you presided over the special counselâs office apparently without leaks. And you never wavered, even in the face of regular vicious attacks from the president and his surrogates.
While I and so many Americans have admired your quiet, confident, dignified response in ignoring that assault, it allowed the administration to use its own voice to control the narrative. And those voices are soloud and so persistent that they beat even reasonable people into submission. The loudest, most persistent voice belongs to the president himself, and under most circumstances, we want to believe our president.
speaks for itself.â It doesnât. 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, youâre no Stephen King).
Youâve characterized the report as your testimony, but you wouldnât accept that reason from anyone your office interviewed. Additional information and illumination emerge from responses to questions. I know youâre as uncomfortable in the spotlight as the president is out of it. I know you donât want to become part of the political spectacle surrounding Russiaâs crimes and your report on them. I know you will, however reluctantly, testify before Congress if called, because you respect the system and follow the rules, and I understand why youâd want to do it away from the public glare.
But the country needs to hear your voice. Your actual voice. And not just because you donât 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.
Weâve learned our lesson about what can happen to the perception of your work when interpreted in rabid tweets by the president, dissected by pundits all over the map, trumpeted in bizarre terms by the presidentâs absurd personal lawyer and distorted by the attorney general.
And if, in fact, you have nothing further to say about the investigation, for your public testimony, you could just read from the report in response to questions from members of Congress. Your life has been a shining example of bravely and selflessly doing things for the good of our country. I urge you to leave your comfort zone and do that again.
You are the voice of the Mueller report. Let the country hear that voice.
With great respect,
Robert De Niro