Robert Mueller went on trial today in front of the House Intelligence Committee…
Like any witness he was circumspect …
Democrats wanted him to say one thing….
To admit that Donald Trump committed illegalities …
Republicans went after Mueller….
No one disputed that anyone else would have been indicted and most probably convicted…
Mueller was beat down the first minutes …
But recovered the second half of his time before the committee…
Above all?
Robert Mueller was a man out of water…..
…From Politico…
Former special counsel Robert Mueller pushed back against President Donald Trump’s characterizations of his 22-month investigation, telling lawmakers on Wednesday that he did not evaluate “collusion” with the Russian government, and confirming that his report did not conclude that there was “no obstruction” of the probe.
“The president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed,” Mueller told the House Judiciary Committee, adding that Trump could theoretically be indicted after he leaves office.
“We did not address ‘collusion,’ which is not a legal term,” Mueller added. “Rather, we focused on whether the evidence was sufficient to charge any member of the campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy. It was not.”
In potentially one of the most critical moments, Mueller said he did not charge Trump with obstruction of justice because of long-standing Justice Department guidelines that prohibit the indictment of a sitting president.
“The reason, again, that you did not indict Donald Trump is because of [a Justice Department] opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) asked.
“That is correct,” responded Mueller, who often asked lawmakers to repeat questions and sometimes appeared flustered.
When Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) pressed Mueller on that response, he did not walk it back….
Former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, in a quiet and occasionally halting manner, provided short, clipped answers to most of the questions thrown at him Tuesday morning, often referring lawmakers back to his report during the highly anticipated congressional hearing about his investigation of President Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Politicians and the public have waited anxiously for two years to hear Mueller describe his investigation and findings. With the first few words of his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Mueller sought to tamp down expectations that his spoken words would go beyond what his 448-page report has already laid out.
“I do not intend to summarize or describe the results of our work in a different way,” Mueller said.
As lawmakers peppered him with questions, Mueller’s reluctance to elaborate on any topic seemed to stem from more than just his previously stated desire to avoid the hearing altogether.
[Live updates from the Muller hearing]
He frequently asked lawmakers to repeat their questions. At times he said he could not hear them, sometimes asserting they were speaking too fast. In contrast to his inquisitors, Mueller spoke slowly, and on a few occasions seemed confused by lawmakers’ inquiries.
For a prosecutor who built a distinguished career on digging deep into the weeds of investigations, to the point that many of his subordinates complained he was a maddening micromanager…
…
At one point, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) asked Mueller if the reason he did not indict the president was because of that policy, spelled out in a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memo.
“That is correct,” Mueller answered. But Mueller’s report and other answers seem to emphasize his office never considered the question of whether the president committed a crime, precisely because of that long-standing OLC memo….
...From Fox….
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller faced a barrage of criticism Wednesday from House Republicans for his handling of the obstruction probe into President Trump — not reaching a conclusion, while declaring the president was not exonerated either — as his fiery congressional hearing gave the investigation’s detractors a rare chance to confront him.
While Democrats were hoping for a memorable hearing performance that might offer clear-cut testimony on crimes by the president, the result of hours of grueling testimony — like the report itself — was more ambiguous. Mueller at times appeared flustered, often asking lawmakers to repeat questions, while referring back to the report or stating topics were outside his purview whenever questioners sought to drag him outside the bounds of his written findings.
MUELLER FLUSTERED, ASKS LAWMAKERS TO REPEAT QUESTIONS
Mueller notably declared Wednesday that, despite Trump’s assertions to the contrary, the report does not exonerate the president of obstruction of justice….
This isn’t gonna happen….
But has been noted….
…
The exchange:
Buck: “You made the decision on the Russian interference. You couldn’t have indicted the president on that, and you made the decision on that. But when it came to obstruction, you threw a bunch of stuff up against the wall to see what would stick.”
Mueller: “I would not agree to that characterization at all. What we did is provide to the attorney general in the form of a confidential memorandum our understanding of the case. Those cases that were brought, those cases that were declined. And the — that one case where the president cannot be charged with a crime.”
Buck: “Okay. But could you charge the president with a crime after he left office?”
Mueller: “Yes.”
Buck: “You believe you could charge the president with obstruction of justice after he left office?”
Mueller: “Yes.”
More @ Axios…
In the first minutes before the Intelligence House Committee Mueller explains why he had been so close mouthed this morning….
He also changes Rep Liu’s conclusion that he didn’t change Trump because he couldn’t…
He presented the view that he did Not feel he had enough to present the case for changes….
Speaking to Schiff…
Mueller is 180 degrees from this morning…
Animated…
Crisp…
And sounds like he’s a bit pissed….
Here
Mueller seems on much MORE SOLID Ground….
Nothing has happened to change my opinion stated before Mueller testimony began…
None of this makes any difference and this entire exercise is pointless.
I agree with Jack. Except for a couple sound bites and grandstanding this is uneventful.
It won’t move the needle either way in any noticeable way.
So do I…
Trump and the Republicans hold all the cards….
Mueller was fair in his appearance and actually got better in the Intel sitting
The only good thing to come out of this is that it is likely the end ,for all practical purposes ,of the impeachment saga.
Oh for sure there will remain those who will loudly proclaim their desire to move forward but, after today, I suggest that the chances of impeachment passing in the House have gone down considerably.
As I have stated on numerous occasions,impeachment and conviction thereof is both a legal And political process.Far too often people want to ignore the latter ,but the really is what it is.
Bluntly ,without Overwhelming public support and the votes in the Senate conviction on Impeachment articles simply isn’t going to happen..
Neither such support exists in either the public ,and certainly not within the Senate , to justify moving forward with Impeachment proceedings in the House.
The country is already going through a bad enough time because a political party has chosen to prostrate themselves to the whims of a racist carnival barker clown who apes their view of something called “conservatism” and allows them ,by appealing to the worst instincts of a sufficient number of voters ,to maintain power .
It certainly doesn’t need to be torn further apart in a needless, futile effort that would only end with the acquittal of the self same “Leader” of the rabble.
Trump will only be gone,if voted out of office.We have heard quite enough of Mr Mueller and his report.The Democrat who continue to push this have made a terrible mistake.
There is simply not near enough here to proceed further.
Added to your summary should be the the Senate actually would need 67 votes to convict….Not with a GOO majority and several Dem Senators who live in Trumo states….
The impeachment push WILL continue
It will be hosted by Dem’s in safe districts who get cheers every time they mention a vote ….
Pelosi has the support and muscle to tamp down the calls…
i suggest that some Democrats will join the media is spotlighting the damning evidence against Trump…
But as u point out Jack?
It won’t change the bottom line….
No conviction chance in the US Senator
THAT is Donald Trump’s ‘trump ‘ card…
Reminder….
There ARE more House committee’s digging…
There are more US Attorney probes( Barr will shit can them)
And NY State ….
Trump’s Right
This won’t be over anytime soon…
oh?
i forgot to add the Million lawsuits ….
Jonathan Chait: “Mueller’s attempt to place himself above the fray, by refusing to call a crime a crime or to recommend impeachment, became the Republicans’ best evidence against him. His caution allowed a series of Republicans, beginning with William Barr, to mischaracterize his findings. And when he contradicted their lie, they accused him of smearing Trump.”
“Republicans used Mueller’s caution and occasional uncertainty to discredit all the damning facts he produced. In fact, it suggests the opposite point: Mueller did not chase down every possible lead or rule out every possible crime. He never got to the bottom of the nature of the contacts between the two Trump advisers, Stone and Manafort, who worked with Russian cutouts during the campaign.”
“Perhaps Mueller was outwitted, or at least outwilled, by Trump. What does that tell us? That Trump got away with even more than we think.”
Politicalwire….
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s mythic profile — built over a period of two years by Trump detractors hoping his investigation and later his testimony would pave the way for the president’s removal from office — took a hit Wednesday as the veteran lawman was seen stumbling through questions and at times unclear about the contents of his own report.
Now, some of President Trump’s biggest critics are turning their ire toward the legend himself, panning his performance at this high-stakes forum, even though Mueller repeatedly made clear he did not wish to testify in the first place.
ANDREW MCCABE: THOSE WITH HIGH HOPES FOR MUELLER’S TESTIMONY WERE ‘DESTINED TO BE DISAPPOINTED’
“Much as I hate to say it, this morning’s hearing was a disaster,” Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe tweeted, in reference to Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Tribe is an outspoken critic of Trump who often calls for his impeachment and indictment. He noted Mueller’s appearance failed to provide the made-for-TV moment that Democrats could rally behind in their efforts to bring down the president.
“Far from breathing life into his damning report, the tired Robert Mueller sucked the life out of it.”…
Fox News….
“We had a very good day today, the Republican Party,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to depart for a fundraiser in West Virginia. “There was no defense of what Robert Mueller was trying to defend. … There was no defense to this ridiculous hoax, this witch hunt.”…
More….
Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees inevitably was the main topic of conversation among late-night television comedians on Wednesday.
Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon each delivered their own comic takes on the hearings, in which Mueller said his report into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible Trump campaign collusion did not exonerate the president.
“What? But Trump screamed tweeted ‘no collusion, no obstruction,’” Seth Meyers, host of NBC’s “Late Night,” said. “It was in all caps and if it’s in all caps, you know it’s true.”
More…
Robert Mueller will now fade away into history.
He’s obviously an older gentleman well past his prime. That may have been part of the reason he didn’t want to appear.
He KNEW he was going into battle zone….
Ultimately ,Democrats just need to understand that all this isn’t going anywhere.
It never was.
For some reason ,that I really don’t understand ,some Democrats have for awhile now clung to some weird belief that there are millions of Americans out there that ,after hearing the “ truth” about Trump ,are going to “ turn” on him.
When are they at long last going to “ get” it?
Trumps supporters Don’t Care what he did because anything, I repeat Anything is acceptable as long as it arouses the ire of “them libruls “and the media and why I have said repeatedly…
This has been and continues to be a monumental waste of time.
The Left as well as the Fox/Trump/“evangelical” Right, has a capacity for self-reinforcing delusion about the views of others.
Trump and the Magas are certain that Trump somehow holds a far greater support in the country as a whole than in fact he does, because they rarely talk politics in forums that aren’t Red or conservative already.
Simliarly, because the people they talk to, the media they read or see, and the web forums they visit all seem to agree on the absolute, already-proven guilt and corruption of Donald Trump, those on the self-reflecting Left can’t imagine how unclear this might be to other Americans.
Sean Hannity vs Rachel Maddow.
To me it was ALWAYS about the math in the US Senate…..
Nothing More…