Dems hope Mueller gives credence to their claim of an unlawful Trump
WASHINGTON — House Democrats are hoping Robert Mueller illuminates potential obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump and gives credence to their claim of an unlawful president for millions of Americans who will decide on Trump’s political future.
Mueller’s much-anticipated testimony Wednesday is a pivotal moment for congressional investigators, holding promise — and peril — for Democrats as they finally get their chance to question a reluctant witness about his nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the president tried to derail the inquiry.
Democrats expect Mueller to describe in detail at least five of 10 episodes of possible obstruction that the former special counsel laid out in his report, which found insufficient evidence to show a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the election and reached no conclusion about whether the president tried to block the probe.
Democrats, however, are divided on what they hope to get out of the long-awaited day of Mueller speaking to Congress and a nation. Ninety-two Democrats favor impeachment of Trump and consider Mueller’s testimony their best shot at moving public sentiment toward ousting the president. Party leaders, reluctant to pursue an inquiry, are hoping the hearings inflict enough political damage to Trump to undermine his reelection bid in next year’s election.
During a recent closed meeting, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., argued that all Democrats need to do is let Mueller talk — particularly given that less than 3 percent of the country has read the 448page redacted report, she said. “I’d like to have a level of calmness — no drama — regarding the Mueller presentation,” Pelosi told her colleagues, according to an individual in the room who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal talks. “The very fact that he is presenting is what we want, so many more people will be aware of the charges that are in the Mueller report.”
Democrats do not expect major revelations from Mueller, who will testify for three hours before the House Judiciary Committee and two hours before the House Intelligence Committee. They expect his answers to be short and curt, and have crafted questions that they hope will elicit a narrative from Mueller of a president committing illegal acts who would have faced prosecution if not for Justice Department policy forbidding the indictment of a sitting president.
Mueller’s team wrote in the report that it was bound by that policy from deciding or alleging — even privately — that Trump had committed a crime.
“We don’t need anything dramatic from Robert Mueller,” said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., a member of the House Judiciary Committee who favors impeachment.