WASHINGTON — Testifying before U.S. House committees Wednesday, former special counsel Robert Mueller dismissed President Donald Trump's claim of "total exoneration" and twice affirmed that a president can be charged with obstruction of justice after they've left office.

Mueller also, in talking about his investigation, said, "It is not a witch hunt." President Donald Trump has consistently described the Russia probe as such.

Mueller also said election interference by Russia in 2016 was not an isolated attempt.

He told a congressional committee: "They're doing it as we sit here."

In one of the most highly anticipated congressional testimonies in years, the former special counsel answered questions from House lawmakers about his almost two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Democrats on the Judiciary Committee focused on a handful of episodes of obstruction of justice, laying the groundwork to portray that the president, in their view, was involved in criminal conduct at the White House.

Republicans took a different tack, raising questions about Mueller's credibility and why this investigation began in the first place, in an effort to portray bias in the probe. They also continued to highlight Mueller's conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.

In response to questions by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Mueller said his special counsel's investigation didn't find sufficient evidence to establish that there was a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, though investigators also didn't totally clear Trump of trying to obstruct the probe.

Mueller's testimony about a past president's obstruction of justice charge came during in an exchange with Republican Rep. Ken Buck.

"Could you charge the president with a crime after he left office?" Buck asked Mueller.

"Yes," he replied.

"You believe that he committed — you could charge the president of the United States with obstruction of justice after he left office?"

"Yes," Mueller said.

Trump weighed in on Twitter hours before testimony was set to begin.

 

"I think there were a lot of facts regarding the interaction of people who didn't like the president or Russians that weren't fully developed," said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida).

Said Rep. Val Demings (D-Florida): "I think it's critical to hear those very damaging areas of the investigation directly from Director Mueller's mouth. My hope is that the American people will be more informed."

Mueller's team told the committees that the former special counsel would decline to read from the report if asked during the hearing.

Mock hearings held Tuesday

Lawmakers held mock hearings Tuesday afternoon and negotiations between the former special counsel and the Judiciary Committee continued as Mueller requested to have his top deputy serve as his counsel during the testimony.

"Originally, there were deputies who were supposed to come and testify after special counsel Robert Mueller. That is nothing new," said Rep. Val Demings (D-Orlando), one of the few lawmakers who is a member of both the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees.

 

The move could further inflame tensions between the Justice Department and House Democrats after the Justice Department instructed Mueller to limit the scope of Wednesday's testimony.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent out a six-page memo to help guide and keep Democrats on the same page. They planned to focus their questions on five areas of obstruction of justice, while Republicans intended to highlight bias on the Mueller team and the origins of the investigation.

 

 

 

"It won't reshape my dynamic. I've heard all I need to hear from Mueller. I've read his report, I accept the findings," Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday. "I don't think it's going to change public opinion."

Others disagreed. "Most of the American people have not read it, 440 pages. Huge report. What's going to happen is Robert Mueller is going to be saying the words of the report live on national television," said Guy Smith, a former Clinton defense team attorney.

"No one has heard him do that before. It cannot be distorted."

Demings said Mueller's testimony could have the power to move the needle with the American people.

"You may not have read the book, but you'll certainly watch the movie," Demings said.

House Democrats seemed content Wednesday to simply remind the public of all the damning information in the Mueller report, which led to a lot of leading questions:

Question: Did you actually totally exonerate the president?

Mueller: No.

As promised, Mueller was tight-lipped, declining to expand much on the report's findings:

"I'm not going to try to explain that."

"I'm not going to answer that."

"I'm not going to speculate."

"Say that again, if you could."

At times, he seemed deliberately obtuse:

"Can you repeat the question?"

"How many times did I what?"

"And the statement was by whom?"

Answers he did give were succinct.

Mueller: Yes.

Question: Did you know that before she came on the team?

Mueller: No.

Q: Correct?

Mueller: Accurate.

Q: Is that right?

Mueller: True.

Still, Democrats managed to score a few points. Asked his reaction to Trump cheering on WikiLeaks as they published stolen documents, Mueller said this:

"Problematic is an understatement."

He added that Donald Trump Jr.'s contact with WikiLeaks was, "disturbing." And he was prompted to recount how Trump refused to sit for an interview, leading Mueller to consider a subpoena.

Demings: Isn't it fair to say that the president's written answers were not only inadequate and incomplete, because he didn't answer many of your questions, but where he did, his answers showed that he wasn't always being truthful?

Mueller: Generally.

Mueller came under regular attack from Republican lawmakers who accused him of exceeding his authority, and questioned the credibility of his staff, one of few times Mueller seemed to get riled up.

North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong: Six of your lawyers donated $12,000 directly to Hillary Clinton.

Mueller: I have not had occasion, once, to ask somebody about their political affiliation. It is not done. What I care about is the capability of the individual to do the job, and do the job quickly, and seriously, and with integrity.

The other topic that seemed to animate Mueller was Russian election meddling, which he said deserves the attention of every American.

"They're doing it as we sit here," Mueller said. "And they expect to do it during the next campaign."

More preventative action is needed, according to Mueller, who was also asked about the Trump campaign's failure to report the attempted interference by a hostile foreign power.

"I hope this is not the new normal. But I fear it is," Mueller said.