Ohio's Sen. Rob Portman Friday called some of President Trump's actions detailed in the Mueller report "inappropriate," marking a break in tone with the rhetoric of the president and many Republican allies.

Portman, while on a trip with other senators in Vietnam, read the report released yesterday on the special investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

When the Republican from Terrace Park released his statement Friday, it wasn't as full-throated a defense of President Donald Trump as those issued by many of his colleagues.

He didn't call the report an "exoneration" of Trump or, as Ohio GOP chairman Jane Timken put it yesterday, "a complete and utter exoneration."

Portman characterized some of the actions of the president and those around the president as inappropriate but not criminal. Even on obstruction of justice, Portman worded his statement carefully, noting others had concluded there was not "sufficient evidence" for charges - not that Trump was cleared.

While not a harsh rebuke of Trump, it showed a rare instance of criticism of the president from Republican ranks.

"The report confirms there was no conspiracy or collusion to violate the U.S. law between Russia and the Trump campaign," Portman said in the statement. "Second, while the report documents a number of actions taken by the president or his associates that were inappropriate, the special counsel reached no conclusion on obstruction of justice. Attorney General Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein have concluded that the Special Counsel’s investigation did not include sufficient evidence to warrant any obstruction of justice charges."

Mueller made clear the report did not exonerate Trump on obstruction of justice. The report also detailed "numerous links" between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, even though investigators "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated."

Portman went on to express concerns about the evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

"There are new details about the extent to which the Russians worked to undermine our democracy and I hope that the House and Senate review these findings carefully and continue to work together to ensure this type of election interference never, ever happens again," Portman said in the statement.

Republicans in the Greater Cincinnati area were slow to respond to the Mueller report. And those who responded didn't raise any concerns about the actions of the president and his aides detailed in the report. Some turned their ire against Democrats.

“Ohioans deserve better than a never-ending partisan quest to vilify the President, for whom our state voted," Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, said in a statement. "The Mueller Report is the result of a nearly 2-year independent counsel investigation that cost more than $25 million. No collusion was found. It is time to move on.”