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Mueller insists his report did not exonerate Trump on obstruction charges Mueller insists his report did not exonerate Trump on obstruction charges
(about 1 hour later)
The former US special counsel Robert Mueller insisted on Wednesday that Donald Trump was not exonerated by his report into Russian interference in the 2016 US election, but offered little new ammunition to boost the case for the president’s impeachment. The former US special counsel Robert Mueller has methodically demolished Donald Trump’s central claims about his Russia investigation – but he did not provide the fireworks that supporters of impeachment had been craving.
Testifying at the first of two hearings on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Mueller confirmed his finding that Russia launched a “sweeping and systematic” attack on America’s democracy and that Trump engaged in 10 instances of obstruction of justice. Testifying for seven hours at back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Mueller rejected the US president’s claims that his investigation was “a witch-hunt”, that Russian election interference was “a hoax” and that Mueller’s report provided Trump with “total exoneration”.
Mueller testimony: key takeaways on the Trump-Russia investigation Yet for those who had billed the hearings as a made-for-TV-moment that would convey the Mueller report to millions of people unaware of its contents, there was also a sense of anti-climax. It was political theatre without much drama as Mueller stuck rigidly to his published conclusions and provided few new revelations.
Asked by House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler if his report exonerates Trump – as the president has frequently claimed – Mueller answered: “No … It is not what the report said.” Worse, he was a star witness lacking star power, often struggling to keep up as questions pinballed from one member of Congress to another and providing only halting answers. At times he seemed uncertain of the contents of his own report.
The report did not reach a conclusion on obstruction of justice, he added, and “the president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed”. Nevertheless, Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, proved adept at teasing some specific answers out of Mueller likely to grab the attention of TV viewers. “It is not a witch-hunt,” the special counsel said, refuting one of the president most repeated assertions.
In the latest TV set piece of the Trump presidency, and the latest sign of growing partisanship in Washington, Democrats repeatedly pressed the point that no one is above the law while Republicans attacked Mueller’s credibility and accused his team of political bias. The Democratic congresswoman Jackie Speier asked: “Would you agree that it was not a hoax that the Russians were engaged in trying to impact our election?” Mueller, who became most animated when warning of the threat of Russia, replied: “Absolutely. That was not a hoax.”
Mueller was questioned why he did not bring criminal charges against the president. The congressman Ted Lieu of Hawaii asked: “‘The reason, again, that you did not indict Donald Trump is because of OLC [Office of Legal Counsel] opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?” Mueller replied: “That is correct.” And earlier in the day, at the start of the judiciary committee hearing, its chairman, Jerry Nadler, asked if Mueller’s report exonerated Trump, as the president has frequently claimed. Mueller answered: “No.”
It was a telling moment, but later on Wednesday, Mueller said he wished to correct the record, backing away from the notion that the OLC advice was necessarily the only reason he did not indict Trump. Even so, his assertion directly contradicts a past claim by Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, who had argued the OLC guidelines played no part in Mueller’s thinking. The report did not reach a conclusion on the question of obstruction of justice, he added, and “the president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed”.
Mueller confirmed that the president refused to be interviewed by Mueller and his team, despite more than a year of requests – contrary to Trump’s claims. Mueller also acknowledged that a president can be prosecuted after he leaves office. Mueller spent 22 months investigating Russian interference in the 2016 US election and Trump campaign ties to Moscow, publishing his redacted report in April. He made clear in a press conference in late May that, if required to testify on Capitol Hill, he would not go beyond the content of his 448-page report, and he was as good as his word.
The Republican congressman Ken Buck asked: “You believe that he committed … you could charge the president of the United States with obstruction of justice after he left office?” A somewhat reluctant witness in nearly seven hours of testimony, Mueller refused to read directly from the report, robbing Democrats of some theatrics. Instead, Democrats read chunks of the report to Mueller, who often gave monosyllabic responses such as “Yes”, “No” or “Correct”. There were moments when Democrats led him to a conclusion but, instead of providing clarity, he obfuscated.
In a characteristic one-word answer, Mueller replied: “Yes.”
Democrats sought to highlight links between the Trump campaign and Russia. The congresswoman Zoe Lofgren asked: “Did your investigation find that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from one of the candidates winning?” Mueller replied: “Yes.”
Robert Mueller: who is the Trump-Russia investigation's special counsel?Robert Mueller: who is the Trump-Russia investigation's special counsel?
Lofgren followed up: “And which candidate would that be?” Mueller answered: “Well, it would be Trump. The president.” Despite having appeared before congressional committees 88 times before, the slow and methodical former FBI director, wearing a suit, white shirt and blue patterned tie, looked ill at ease and sometimes asked for questions to be repeated. If, as some argued, the report was the book and this was the movie adaptation, it was a movie without a leading man.
Questioned by the congresswoman Val Demings, Mueller said he would “generally agree” that his investigation was “impeded” by lying by Trump campaign and White House officials. He added: “I think there are probably a spectrum of witnesses in terms of those who are not telling the full truth or those who are outright liars.” David Axelrod, chief strategist for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, tweeted: “This is delicate to say, but Mueller, whom I deeply respect, has not publicly testified before Congress in at least six years. And he does not appear as sharp as he was then.”
Mueller spent 22 months investigating Russian interference and published his redacted report in April. Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law at professor at Harvard University, tweeted: “Much as I hate to say it, this morning’s hearing was a disaster. Far from breathing life into his damning report, the tired Robert Mueller sucked the life out of it. The effort to save democracy and the rule of law from this lawless president has been set back, not advanced.”
He made clear in a press conference in late May that, if required to testify on Capitol Hill, he would not go beyond the content of his 448-page report and he was as good as his word. Schiff’s performance in the afternoon, however, earned praise from Tribe and others. As the day wore on, Democrats did land some blows.
A somewhat reluctant witness in back-to-back sessions before the House judiciary and intelligence committees, Mueller refused to read directly from the report during his appearance before the judiciary committee, robbing Democrats of some made-for-TV moments. Instead, Democrats read chunks of the report to Mueller, who often gave monosyllabic responses such as “Yes”, “No” or “Correct”. The Illinois congressman Mike Quigley documented the many instances of Trump praising WikiLeaks after it published emails from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 campaign. Was this problematic? Mueller agreed: “Problematic is an understatement ... in terms of giving some hope or some boost to what is and should be illegal activity.”
Despite appearing before congressional committees 88 times before, the famously slow and methodical former FBI director struggled to keep up as questions rapidly pinballed between members. Several times he had to ask for them to be repeated and he seemed less familiar with his report than many of the questioners. Earlier, Mueller was questioned on why he did not bring criminal charges against the president, who had refused to be interviewed. The congressman Ted Lieu of Hawaii asked: “The reason, again, that you did not indict Donald Trump is because of OLC [Office of Legal Counsel] opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?” Mueller replied: “That is correct.”
Sometimes Democrats found him frustratingly evasive. Asked about a letter he wrote complaining about the way Barr had mischaracterised his findings, Mueller repeatedly declined to comment beyond the letter itself. “I’m not going to get into that,” he said, a phrase he repeated often. Later he sought to clarify his answer: “As we say in the report, we did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime.” Even so, his assertion directly contradicts a past claim by Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, who had argued the OLC guidelines played no part in Mueller’s thinking.
Republicans, meanwhile, criticised him and sought to chip away at his credibility, echoing Trump’s claim that the investigation was a hoax and witch-hunt. They argued that Mueller’s team was made up of Democrats who had donated to his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Mueller also acknowledged that a president could be prosecuted after he left office. The Republican congressman Ken Buck asked: “You believe that he committed … you could charge the president of the United States with obstruction of justice after he left office?”
The Republican Louie Gohmert angrily told Mueller “you perpetuated injustice” while colleague Guy Reschenthaler called the manner in which the inquiry was conducted “un-American”. The Republican Mike Johnson asked Mueller if his report recommended impeachment. He replied: “I’m not going to talk about that issue.” Mueller replied: “Yes.”
Mueller said his investigation was conducted in “a fair and independent manner” and that members of the special counsel’s team “were of the highest integrity”. In the latest measure of bitter partisanship in Washington, Democrats repeatedly pressed the point that no one is above the law while Republicans attacked Mueller’s credibility and accused his team of political bias. They argued that Mueller’s team was made up of Democrats who had donated to Trump’s 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton. The Republican Devin Nunes declared: “Welcome, everyone, to the last gasp of the Russian collusion conspiracy theory.”
It appears that Trump himself was following the day’s events closely. He tweeted allegations of bias of Mueller and his investigators, accusing the special counsel of seeking revenge after being turned down in his job application for director of the FBI. Mueller said his investigation was conducted in “a fair and independent manner” and that members of the former special counsel’s team “were of the highest integrity”. He explained that he had not subpoenaed Trump for an interview “because of the necessity of expediting” the investigation, adding: “If we did subpoena the president, he would fight the subpoena and we would be in the midst of the investigation for a substantial period of time.”
During the hearing, Mueller denied that he had applied for another spell as FBI director and been rejected. He said he discussed the FBI job with Trump, but “not as a candidate”. It appears that Trump himself was following the day’s events closely. He tweeted allegations of bias against Mueller, accusing him of seeking revenge after being turned down in his job application for director of the FBI. Mueller stated under oath that he was not, in fact, a candidate for FBI director under Trump.
Halfway through the first hearing, Trump tweeted a comment from Fox News host Chris Wallace: “This has been a disaster for the Democrats and a disaster for the reputation of Robert Mueller.” Later, at the White House, Trump told reporters: “We had a very good day today, the Republican party ... There was no defence of what Robert Mueller was trying to defend ... There was no defence to this ridiculous hoax, this witch-hunt.”
Pete Williams, a journalist at NBC television, said: “This is not the same Robert Mueller we saw in his 88 appearances before Congress in the past. I think it’s fair to say, the years have clearly taken a toll on the Bob Mueller we used to see, and I think that’s affected his ability to, perhaps, be as facile with answering the questions, as perhaps both sides wanted him to be.” He added: “Today proved a lot to everybody.”
The House intelligence committee hearing got under way in the afternoon. The chairman, Adam Schiff, said: “Your report laid out multiple offers of Russian help to the Trump campaign, the campaign’s acceptance of that help, and overt acts in furtherance of Russian help. To most Americans, that is the very definition of collusion, whether it is a crime or not.”
Trump tweeted in response: “I would like to thank the Democrats for holding this morning’s hearing. Now, after three hours, Robert Mueller has to subject himself to #ShiftySchiff – an Embarrassment to our Country!”
Robert MuellerRobert Mueller
House of RepresentativesHouse of Representatives
Trump-Russia investigationTrump-Russia investigation
Donald TrumpDonald Trump
DemocratsDemocrats
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