Kevin McCarthy refuses to answer CNN question about White House 'lies'

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) deflected questions from CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday regarding the White House’s ever-evolving statements on the infamous Trump Tower meeting.

The New York Times reported Saturday that President Donald Trump dictated Donald Trump Jr.’s initial statement to reporters on his meeting with a Russian operative during the 2016 campaign. The president’s legal team said in July 2017 that he had no involvement in drafting the statement.

Inconsistent explanations about the president’s involvement in Trump Jr.’s statement could potentially be seen as obstruction of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

“Mr. Leader, are you bothered by the fact that the White House lied about the president’s involvement here?” Bash asked McCarthy during CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

McCarthy hesitated, but then bashed Mueller’s investigation.

“Look, the one thing I have found, this has gone on for more than a year,” McCarthy said about the Russia probe. “Millions of dollars has been spent. The White House has been cooperating all the way through.”

McCarthy continued to question Mueller’s investigation until Bash confronted him for parroting “talking points,” asking him again whether he’s concerned that the White House “lied.”

But McCarthy deflected once again.

“What I was concerned most about, like most Americans, was there any collusion? There was no collusion,” he said, continuing: “What I’m really concerned about is, look at what our economic numbers are, look at North Korea’s meeting going through, look at the trade discussions we’re having, and this is the No. 1 question we’re following through?”

Bash called out McCarthy for refusing to “answer the question about the lies” before moving on to another topic.

• This article originally appeared on HuffPost.