Mueller hearings make for nasty rerun TV
Special counsel Robert Mueller appeared before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning in what was billed as the television event of the summer.
It turned out to be a rerun — and not the kind you’re happy to see when they pop up. The kind that makes you sigh and change the channel. Because this was nasty TV, the kind that makes you feel a little worse just for having watched.
“This hearing is political theater,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R — Calif.) said at the outset of the second hearing. He wasn’t wrong. But it was bad political theater.
Not that it was without some merit. In terms of genuine headlines, Mueller saying that he did not clear Trump of obstruction was probably the biggest.
But in terms of TV, it was what we have come to expect from congressional hearings, particularly during the Trump administration, or at least since Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in 2018. Republican members go after the witness with varying degrees of nastiness in a focused attack
There was no shortage of grandstanding on both sides ... and there were times when Republicans seemed to echo Trump’s pre-hearing tweets in which he disparaged the validity of the proceedings.
while Democrats meander around in a political version of pin the tail on the donkey. They seem to think they’ll find the target at some point.
Aside from the collusion and obstruction comments, most of what Mueller said were variations on, “Could you repeat the question” (he seemed to have a problem hearing them) and, “I’ll refer you to the report.” His answers, when they came, were often halting. It was striking, mostly because the only time many people have ever heard him talk was when he read a prepared statement in May.
It’s not always clear just what the various committees hope to take away from these hearings. There was no shortage of grandstanding on both sides — these folks have to run for re-election every two years, remember, and a juicy 5-second out-of-context video clip can be invaluable — and there were times when Republicans seemed to echo Trump’s pre-hearing tweets in which he disparaged the validity of the proceedings.
But maybe something else was afoot. CNN’s Brian Stelter captured the vibe of the entire hearing in a tweet: “Live televised tryouts for (Sean) Hannity and (Rachel) Maddow’s shows today.”
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) probably won points on that front for yelling a lot and saying Mueller “perpetuated injustice!” Although Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Penn.) doubtlessly made strides with the Audience in Chief when he wound up his questions by calling Mueller’s report “un-American.”
Chris Wallace of Fox News — typically the most-balanced voice at the conservative-leaning network — wasn’t impressed. “I think this has been a disaster for the Democrats and a disaster for the reputation of Robert Mueller,” he said during a break in the proceedings.
That was more harsh than some other assessments, but the general reaction among pundits and those weighing in on social media was that neither side exactly bathed itself in glory, political or otherwise.
Maybe because at some point it seems like the same old thing, over and over. Republicans and Democrats, as they have so often, seem to be attending two different hearings. Each has a different goal, of course, but it’s become so divisive, predictable and strident that, as important as it may be, it’s hard to sit through.
Great television it isn’t.
Susan Glasser of the New Yorker summed it up nicely in a tweet. “Congress never comes out well when the world tunes in to see its members in action. Never.”
Maybe next time.