Tersely rejects Trump claims of exoneration, witch hunt
Ex-special counsel avoids sound bites, partisan fray
Former special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday bluntly dismissed President Donald Trump’s claims of total exoneration in the federal probe of Russia’s 2016 election interference, telling Congress he explicitly did not clear the president of obstructing his investigation. Trump’s GOP allies tried to cast Mueller and his prosecutors as politically motivated. Democrats, meanwhile, sought to emphasize the most incendiary findings of Mueller’s 448page report and weaken Trump’s reelection prospects.
WASHINGTON – Robert Mueller on Wednesday bluntly dismissed President Donald Trump’s claims of total exoneration in the federal probe of Russia’s 2016 election interference, telling Congress he explicitly did not clear the president of obstructing his investigation. The former special counsel also rejected Trump’s assertions that the probe was a “witch hunt” and hoax.
In hours of sometimes halting and stilted testimony, reliant on terse oneword answers and a steely determination to remain outside the partisan fray, Mueller also declared Russian election interference was one of the greatest challenges to democracy he had encountered in his career.
The televised Capitol Hill appearances, Mueller’s first since wrapping his two-year Russia probe last spring, unfolded at a moment of deep divisions in the country, with many Americans hardened in their opinions about the success of Donald Trump’s presidency and whether impeachment proceedings are necessary.
Republicans and Democrats took divergent paths in questioning Mueller.
Trump’s GOP allies tried to cast the former special counsel and his prosecutors as politically motivated.
Democrats, meanwhile, sought to emphasize the most incendiary findings of Mueller’s 448-page report and weaken Trump’s reelection prospects in ways that Mueller’s book-length report did not. They hoped that even if his testimony did not inspire impeachment demands – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made clear she will not pursue impeachment, for now – Mueller could nonetheless unambiguously spell out questionable, norm-shattering actions by the president.
Yet Mueller appeared unwilling or unable to offer crisp sound bites that could reshape already-entrenched public opinions.
But he was unflinching on the most critical matters.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, asked Mueller about Trump’s claims of vindication in the investigation.
“Did you actually totally exonerate the president?” Nadler asked. “No,” Mueller replied.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, asked, “Your investigation is not a witch hunt, is it?”
“It is not a witch hunt,” Mueller flatly replied.
Republicans focused on his conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“Those are the facts of the Mueller report. Russia meddled in the 2016 election,” said Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. “The president did not conspire with Russians. Nothing we hear today will change those facts.”