just to be clear, despite what you just heard the judge in this case did not say there was no collusion only that it did not pertain to the charges in this particular case. asha rangappa is a national security analyst. first, let me start with the president of the united states saying point-blank today michael cohen directly asked for a pardon. what is mueller now do with this? could his boost his case that the president needs to be interviewed? mueller would definitely be looking in to that conversation and i think it s important here to remember the difference between their relative positions. people petition, you know, the white house for pardons. that s what people do. they ask for mercy or leniency. that isn t running afoul of any kind of law or constitutional provisions. the question is what it trump say on the other side? did he dangle it in any way? did he use it as an enticement