The Maui News - Weekender

Mueller testimony delayed

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony to Congress has been delayed until July 24 under an agreement that gives lawmakers more time to question him.

Mueller had been scheduled to testify Wednesday before two house committees about the findings of his Russia investigat­ion. But lawmakers in both parties complained that the short length of the hearings would not allow enough time for all members to ask questions.

Under the new arrangemen­t, Mueller will testify for an extended period of time — three hours instead of two — before the House Judiciary Committee. He will then testify before the House intelligen­ce committee in a separate hearing. The two committees said in a statement that all members will be able to question him.

The agreement will also give Mueller more time to prepare for the rigorous questionin­g. The statement said the postponeme­nt was “at his request.”

Mueller has expressed his reluctance to testify and said he won’t go beyond what’s in his 448-page report. But Democrats have been determined to highlight its contents for Americans who have not read it. They want to extract informatio­n from the former special counsel and spotlight what they say are his most damaging findings against President Donald Trump.

Democrats are expected to ask Mueller about his conclusion­s, including that he could not exonerate Trump on obstructio­n of justice after detailing several episodes in which Trump tried to influence the investigat­ion. Mueller also said there was not enough evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s presidenti­al campaign and the Kremlin.

One thing Judiciary members want to focus on in questionin­g Mueller is whether Trump would have been charged with a crime were he not president. Mueller said in a May news conference that charging a president with a crime was “not an option” because of longstandi­ng Justice Department policy. But Democrats want to know more about how he made that decision and when.

It’s unclear whether Mueller’s testimony will give Democratic investigat­ions new momentum. In the news conference, Mueller indicated that it was up to Congress to decide what to do with his findings.

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