WASHINGTON — Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller offered a House committee little new information beyond what he wrote in April’s final report on the Russia investigation
In the first of back-to-back hearings before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, Mueller said his investigators decided at the start of the inquiry that they were bound by a Watergate-era Justice Department ruling that a sitting president cannot be indicted, and thus never considered criminal charges against President Trump. But he conceded under questioning that wouldn’t prevent prosecutors from pursuing criminal charges after Trump leaves office. And he explicitly reaffirmed the report’s statement that the investigation does not exonerate Trump, as the president has claimed.
Mueller repeatedly declined to go beyond what’s stated in the report. The former FBI director has said his roughly 400 page report speaks for itself. Mueller was a reluctant witness and had to be subpoenaed.
Mueller and his team spent nearly two years investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller did contradict Trump’s repeated claim that Mueller applied to be appointed to his old job at the FBI. Mueller says he did meet with Trump, but to offer his advice on the qualities the president should seek in an FBI director.
Mueller’s report cited insufficient evidence to pursue conspiracy charges but said members of Trump’s campaign were aware of Russia’s efforts to influence the election in their favor. The report listed 10 instances which potentially could constitute obstruction of justice.
24/7 News Source contributed to this report.
(PHOTO: Saul Loeb/Getty Images)
