Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before two Congressional committees today, offering his first public testimony since submitting his 448-page report on the 2016 US election. Testimony is scheduled to begin in the House Judiciary Committee at 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., followed by the smaller House Intelligence Committee from noon to 2 p.m.
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Mueller is expected follow guidance from the Justice Department and stick to the ‘four corners’ of his report, and he has made clear that he won’t answer hypothetical questions. That said, as a private citizen there is nothing stopping Mueller from answering questions outside the report.
What to watch for
House Democrats – looking for anything they can use to launch an impeachment, will undoubtedly focus on having Mueller refute President Trump’s oft-repeated “no collusion, no obstruction” claim. While the Mueller report did not find evidence of collusion, he left the question of obstruction to Attorney General William Barr and former Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein – who found no collusion.
The Mueller report contains at least 10 alleged acts by Trump that could constitute obstruction of his investigation, which Democrats will likely push for him to elaborate on.
Mueller may provide fresh momentum for congressional Democrats to open proceedings to impeach the president. Impeachment is an option that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has resisted so far because of her belief it would prove futile, and politically damaging to her party, unless dramatic new evidence emerges that would lead to Trump’s removal from office by the Republican-controlled Senate. –Bloomberg
Republicans, meanwhile, will likely focus on the origins of the Russia investigation – as well as the anti-Trump text messages exchanged between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who were key investigators of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. GOP House members will also likely ask about the so-called Steele dossier which contains salacious and unverified allegations about President Trump and his aides.
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2LDPKh3 Tyler Durden