Fox News host Shepard Smith said Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller “directly contradicted” the Trump administration while delivering a public statement about his investigation. 

“He directly contradicted what we’ve heard from the White House,” Smith said on his Fox News program. “The special counsel stated clearly that his findings do not exonerate the president.”

{mosads}Smith explained that Mueller’s public comments appeared to contradict some of things President Trump has said in regard to the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference and obstruction of justice. 

“The president has said there was no collusion. Robert Mueller says there was not enough evidence to bring charges,” Smith said before transitioning to a clip of Mueller explaining his office’s “conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy.”

Smith noted that Mueller stated that during his investigation he was bound by Department of Justice (DOJ) guidelines that prohibit indicting a sitting president.

Mueller on Wednesday delivered his first public comments about his 22-month investigation, speaking for about eight minutes on matters related to the probe. Among other things, Mueller said that his office did not bring charges against Trump because it “was not an option” under DOJ regulations. 

He stated that if his team “had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that.” Mueller also said that the Constitution requires a “process other than the criminal justice system” to take action against a president. 

Mueller’s report, which was released last month, explained that his office did not find sufficient evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Moscow. The report did say that Mueller did not reach a conclusive determination in regard to obstruction.  

Trump, who has repeatedly said that Mueller’s report exonerated him, responded to Mueller’s remarks by tweeting that “nothing” changed. 

“There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent,” he tweeted. “The case is closed!”