Robert Mueller testimony

On July 24, 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before two congressional panels on the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. After publishing the 448-page report earlier this year with his team, Mueller soon became a ray of hope for Democrats trying to impeach President Donald Trump for obstruction of justice. On February 17, 2018 the president claimed that there was “no collusion” between Russia and the U.S. on Twitter. Although Mueller was unable to establish a criminal conspiracy like the Democrats wanted him to, during the series of questioning between with the House Intelligence Committee chair, Adam Schiff (D-Calif), he confirmed that Russia interfered the Trump campaign and was responsible for the release of Hillary Clinton’s emails. One of the most memorable moments of Mueller’s testimony was when he refuted President Trump’s claim of having “total exoneration”.

Despite all of this, most of the six hours were spent with Mueller avoiding straying away from his already published report. Likewise, Mueller not only gave one-word responses frequently, but was also unable to accurately remember key points and answer even the simplest of questions. This was evident when Representative Greg Stanton (D-AZ) asked “Which president appointed you to become the United States Attorney for Massachusetts?” and Mueller first responded by asking if he was referring to the senator even though it was clearly stated he was referring to the president. To add, in response to the question, Mueller answered President Bush even though it was President Reagan.

Despite their expectations, Democrats went home on July 24 with immense disappointment. On the other hand, the Republicans were cheering for their victory with President Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, telling The Guardian, “This entire spectacle has always been about the Democrats trying to undo the legitimate result of the 2016 election and today they again failed miserably.”

Considering the outcome, Democrats shouldn’t have subpoenaed Mueller who stated ‘The Report Is My Testimony” in May.