Stephen Colbert has a hearty laugh at the bumbling plot to frame Robert Mueller
On Tuesday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office said it had asked the FBI to investigate claims that somebody was trying to pay women to falsely accuse Mueller of sexual misconduct. Yes, "somebody is trying to frame Robert Mueller — and not the way I thought, where he reveals the president's ties to Russia and then we hang Mueller's picture in every home in America," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "If you're going to pay women to lie, the charges have to pass the smell test. Mueller is so famously a straight-shooter, his birthday suit is a suit. A wild night for Mueller is having coffee after 5 p.m."
"So who is dumb enough to think they're smart enough to pull this off?" Colbert asked. "The master-let's-say-mind of this scheme is 20-year-old Twitter troll Jacob Wohl," owner of a dubious firm called Surefire Intelligence, based on several clues. "How dumb do you have to be to use your own photo in a con game against the former head of the FBI?" Colbert asked. "I'm beginning to think he didn't think this one through."
Wohl also registered Surefire Intelligence's website with his own email address, and a number on the site led to Wohl's mother's voicemail. "Yeah, his mom's phone — that explains the outgoing message," Colbert said, playing a fake message. But the tale isn't over. "Despite the story completely falling apart and the FBI breathing down their necks, it's still being pushed by Wohl's accomplice," GOP lobbyist Jack Burkman, who is planning to trot out the "first" Mueller accuser at "high noon" on Thursday, he added. "Yes, high noon. Because if you believe any part of this story, I'm guess you're high by noon." Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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