Former special counsel Robert Mueller was a man of few words on Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee's hearing, but he did push back against President Donald Trump's claims of his probe as a "witch hunt," according to USA Today.
“The president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed,” Mueller said before adding Trump could face charges over that after he leaves office.
“We did not address ‘collusion,’ which is not a legal term,” Mueller said. “Rather, we focused on whether the evidence was sufficient to charge any member of the campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy. It was not.”
Mueller also noted the longstanding Justice Department guidelines which prohibit indicting a sitting president.
“The reason, again, that you did not indict Donald Trump is because of [a Justice Department] opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) asked the former special counsel.
“That is correct,” responded Mueller.
Mueller offered mostly one-word answers to many of the questions posed by both sides, but he did agree that Trump was not totally exonerated and the president did seek to have then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions reverse a decision to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation.
Mueller also said it was true Trump ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to fire the special counsel and confirmed obstruction of justice would warrant jail time of up to 20 years if one is convicted.
But overall Mueller offered little fodder for Democrats, who were looking for him to help take down Trump, or Republicans, who were seeking to damage Mueller's credibility as an investigator.
Mueller also pointed out several topics he would not discuss in his opening statements, but Republicans continually pushed for answers on those topics.
“I do not intend to summarize or describe the results of our work in a different way in the course of my testimony today,” Mueller said. “As I said on May 29: the report is my testimony. And I will stay within that text.”
“I also will not comment on the actions of the attorney general or of Congress. I was appointed as a prosecutor, and I intend to adhere to that role and to the department’s standards that govern it.”
Most of Mueller's responses were concerning the 448-page report released earlier this year, which Democrats emphasized contained a number of damaging information about Trump and his 2016 campaign.
Mueller did defend his hires on the special counsel team after Republican Rep. Greg Steube of Florida claimed their political affiliations affected their job.
Mueller said he had 25 years on the job and "had occasion once to ask somebody about their political affiliation. It is not done."
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Andrew Harnik
