Mueller testifies before Congress about special counsel report — live updates
On Wednesday, former special counsel Robert Mueller is giving lawmakers their first opportunity to question him about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and President Trump’s efforts to curtail that investigation.
Mueller is appearing before the House Judiciary Committee for three hours beginning at 8:30 a.m., followed by two hours before the House Intelligence Committee.
During his nearly two-year investigation, Mueller found that Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign through an operation to break into computer networks and sow division on social media to bolster Mr. Trump at the expense of Hillary Clinton. He did not, however, establish that Trump campaign officials “conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
The special counsel also declined to make a determination about whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice, although his report outlined 10 instances of potential obstruction. After Mueller submitted his report in March, the attorney general determined there was insufficient evidence to conclude Mr. Trump had obstructed justice.
Mueller is not expected to stray from the information provided in his report in his testimony before Congress, but House Democrats are hoping his appearance will raise awareness the report’s findings.
Watch the hearing on CBSN in the player above, and follow along with updates below
Lines form before hearing starts
Hours before Mueller is to appear before lawmakers, a long line, comprised of mostly young professionals, formed along the winding halls of the Rayburn House office building. Many of those camped out told CBS News that they suffered through the long lines “for the historic moment.”
Two interns told CBS they had sat in the hallways since 8pm the night before and ordered take out food to make it through the night.
What Democrats expect from Mueller
In a public statement at the end of May, Mueller indicated he wouldn’t provide any new information if called to testify before Congress. “The report is my testimony,” he said at the time. “I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress.”
Democratic staffers on the House Judiciary Committee aren’t expecting a “big, dramatic new revelation” from Mueller. They think he’ll “lean into” the factual findings and legal conclusions.
Lawmakers will “respect” the fact that Mueller has been very clear about not wanting to give his personal opinion on whether Mr. Trump broke the law, the staffers said, and understand Mueller feels he has to stay within the confines of the report.
— Rebecca Kaplan
What Democrats hope to accomplish
A Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee told CBS News that lawmakers are “just hoping” to get the basic findings and conclusions related to obstruction of justice out in the open for people to hear them, away from the “thick fog of propaganda” put forth by the attorney general and president.
“The hope is that we can achieve some kind of national consensus about what took place, based on the report, and then we can move on to oversight and to all of the other allegations,” the representative said.
Lawmakers, according to the staff, plan to focus on five instances they think would incur criminal charges for obstruction of justice if any other individual besides the president had carried out these actions. They’re laid out here:
- Mr. Trump’s repeated directions to former White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller;
- His direction to McGahn to deny he’d been ordered to fire Mueller;
- His direction to adviser Corey Lewandowski to deliver a message to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to limit the investigation to exclude the president and only focus on future elections;
- Mr. Trump’s message to Lewandowski to tell Sessions he would be fired if he didn’t meet with Lewandowski
- His tampering with witnesses Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman, and former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen
— Kathryn Watson and Rebecca Kaplan
Trump doesn’t think Mueller should testify
Mr. Trump says he thinks Mueller’s testimony is another ploy by Democrats to undermine his presidency.
“Highly conflicted Robert Mueller should not be given another bite at the apple. In the end it will be bad for him and the phony Democrats in Congress who have done nothing but waste time on this ridiculous Witch Hunt. Result of the Mueller Report, NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION!” Mr. Trump tweeted Monday.
However, Mueller’s report made no determination about whether Mr. Trump had obstructed justice.
“As set forth in the report, after the investigation, if we had confidence that the president did not clearly commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mueller told reporters in May.
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