Thread by @AndrewFeinberg

Ok, everyone, @HouseJudiciary is getting started. I'm going to try and keep a live-tweet thread going as best I can. You can follow along here.

@HouseJudiciary And, we have our first protestors...

@HouseJudiciary Openings from Nadler and Collins are both predictable, no surprises so far.

@HouseJudiciary First lie: @RepDougCollins suggests no one in @realDonaldTrump's orbit had anything to do with Russia.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump .@RepDougCollins suggests Mueller will testify about the origins of his investigation. It doesn't look like he will do so, though.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump Mueller says "there are certain points that bear emphasis."

1. Russians interfered.
2. Insufficient evidence to charge criminal conspiracy.
3. Obstruction investigation was of critical importance.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump Mueller says decision to not determine whether @realDonaldTrump commited a crime was based on @TheJusticeDept policy.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept Mueller says he is going to obey Barr's stonewalling order, but specifically mentions the origins of the investigation and Steele dossier as things he can't discuss.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept Mueller's answer to Nadler's first question blows away:
1. "TOTAL EXONERATION!"
2. "NO OBSTRUCTION"
Q: Did the report conclude that @realDonaldTrump did not obstruct justice?
A: No
Q: Did it exonerate the President?
A: No.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept Q: The president was trying to exert undue influence over the investigation?
A: That's correct

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept Nadler: "You would not indict because of the OLC opinion?"
Mueller: Yes

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept Collins: Collusion and conspiracy are syonymous?
Mueller: NO.

There goes "NO COLLUSION."

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept .@RepZoeLofgren: Did your investigation find Russia thought it would benefit from one candidate winning?
Mueller: Yes.
Lofgren: Which one?
Mueller: Trump.
Lofgren: Did Trump campaign feel it would benefit from Russia's interference?
Mueller: Yes.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept @RepZoeLofgren .@RepRatcliffe now attacking Mueller for saying that he didn't exonerate @realDonaldTrump of obstruction.

"You didn't follow the Special Counsel regulations."

"Volume 2 was not authorized...it was written in violation of every DOJ principle..."

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept @RepZoeLofgren @RepRatcliffe .@JacksonLeeTX18 now refuting what Ratcliffe just said, getting Mueller to say that there was sufficient reason to investigate @realDonaldTrump for obstructing justice.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept @RepZoeLofgren @RepRatcliffe @JacksonLeeTX18 Jackson-Lee gets Mueller to say that there doesn't need to be an underlying crime to obstruct justice.

@HouseJudiciary @RepDougCollins @realDonaldTrump @TheJusticeDept @RepZoeLofgren @RepRatcliffe @JacksonLeeTX18 .@JimPressOffice (Sensenbrenner) is going back into what Ratcliffe just got into about how Vol. 2 is illegitimate.

Q: Since OLC says you can't prosecute a sitting President, why did you investigate/provide the information?
A: OLC opinion says you can still investigate him.

Q: You can investigate others but you can't indict the president, right?
A: Yes.

Mueller shuts Sensenbrenner down on that line of inquiry.

Now Sensenbrenner is comparing Mueller to Starr, asks if Vol 2. says POTUS didn't engage in impeachable conduct.

Mueller shuts him down again: Our mandate does not go to other ways of addressing conduct.

Sensenbrenner actually says impeachment is for the committee to decide.

.@RepCohen teeing up with the "I'm fucked" quote but doesn't actually say it. Asks who told him about it.

Mueller: I'm not certain of the person who copied that quote.

Cohen: He wasn't pleased with you and your outstanding reputation...
Mueller interjects: Correct.

@RepCohen Cohen now getting Mueller to confirm all the attempts @realDonaldTrump made to get @jeffsessions to "un-recuse" himself.

@RepCohen @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions Cohen gets Mueller to say the Attorney General is not supposed to be the "consigliere" for @realDonaldTrump.

@RepCohen @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions .@SteveChabot now getting into the fact that Mueller didn't make an impeachment referral like Ken Starr.
He's now asking about Fusion GPS, but he's limited to the report.
Q: Are you familiar with Glenn Simpson?
A: That's outside my purview.

@RepCohen @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions @SteveChabot Chabot seems flustered by Mueller's refusal to engage on Fusion GPS questions.

@RepCohen @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions @SteveChabot Now @RepHankJohnson getting into the fake conflicts @realDonaldTrump keeps talking about.

Q: Is it true that Don McGahn told @realDonaldTrump the president that the "conflicts" were "silly" and "not real?"
A: Refer to report.
Q: Did DOJ say you had no conflicts?
A: correct.

@RepCohen @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions @SteveChabot @RepHankJohnson .@RepHankJohnson now walking Mueller through the attempts @realDonaldTrump made to fire him, Mueller is largely confirming them.

Q: Did POTUS call McGahn more than once? [reads report]
A: Correct.

@RepCohen @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions @SteveChabot @RepHankJohnson Q: Was McGahn perturbed? (Mueller's words)
A: There was a continuous colloquy of McGahn responding to the president's entreaties.

@RepCohen @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions @SteveChabot @RepHankJohnson IT'S GOHMERT TIME!

@RepCohen @realDonaldTrump @jeffsessions @SteveChabot @RepHankJohnson .@replouiegohmert Did you write the statement you game in may?
A: I'm not going to get into that.

Q: Were you friends with @Comey?
A: Yes (more like work friends)
Q: Did you talk to @Comey before he was fired?
A: No

Q: When you talked to @realDonaldTrump before he appointed Wray --
Mueller: Not as a candidate (there goes @realDonaldTrump's lie about Mueller being a candidate for the FBI job)

@realDonaldTrump Q: You didn't know that Peter Strzok "hated Trump" before he was hired?
A: I did not know that, and when I did find out, I acted swiftly to have him reassigned.

Q: Did you ever order anybody to investigate deletion of texts?
[Gohmert interrupts]
Mueller: Can I finish?

Q: Did you order an investigation into deletion?
A: There was an IG investigation ongoing.

This is tame for Gohmert.

Q: If somebody knows they did not conspire with Russia to affect the election, and they see the big DOJ coming...and a special counsel who hires dozens of people who hate that person, and he's innocent....[rambles]
Mueller: "I take your question."

.@RepTedDeutch is getting back into @realDonaldTrump pushing McGahn to fire him. Mueller is largely referring him to the report, which Deutch is reading.

@RepTedDeutch @realDonaldTrump Q: You found McGahn to be a credible witness?
A: Correct.

Q: Why did @realDonaldTrump want you fired?
A: "I can't answer that question."

Deutch then reads from report stating that @realDonaldTrump was reacting to reports that he was being investigated for obstruction.

Q: You found evidence that @realDonaldTrump wanted to fire you because he was investigating him for obstruction?
A: That's correct.

@realDonaldTrump Now @RepMarthaRoby is getting into how Mueller submitted the report, and redactions. Mueller isn't really engaging.
Q: Did you expect that the report would be released publicly?
A: No.

Roby appears to be trying to get Mueller to say he wrote the report with the expectation that it'd be released to embarrass the President.

Roby: Was anything in Barr's letter inaccurate?
Mueller: I'm not going to get into that.

.@RepKarenBass: You found evidence that @realDonaldTrump tried to fire you, correct?
A: Correct.

@RepKarenBass @realDonaldTrump Now @Jim_Jordan is getting into questions about Joseph Mifsud, asks why he wasn't charged with a crime.
Mueller: I can't get into that.

Jordan now spouting a lot of lies about "spying."

Jordan: [yells at Mueller about charging decisions]
Mueller: I can’t get into that.

After the break, @RepRichmond asks Mueller if @realDonaldTrump asked McGahn to lie. Mueller confirms.

Q: It's fair that @realDonaldTrump asked staff to...falsify records in an investigation?
A: That's accurate.

@RepRichmond @realDonaldTrump Ah, now it's @RepMattGaetz (or is it @MattGertz? Who knows?) asking about the Steele Dossier. Mueller isn't playing along.

Now he's quoting from the dossier.

Q: Did Steele make stuff up?
A: That's not within my purview.

Gaetz talking about Russia "trying to undermine confidence in our duly-elected president" when @realDonaldTrump WAS NOT YET PRESIDENT when Steele complied his reports.

Mueller does not look amused.

@realDonaldTrump Mueller: "What I think is missing here is that this is under investigation --
Gaetz: [interrupts and rambles]
Mueller: If I could finish sir --
Gaetz: Interrupts and asks if he had any basis to look into whether Steele is lying.
Mueller: That's not within my purview.

Gaetz now quoting from IG report about Strzok...Mueller looking even less amused.

Q: Strzrok and "attorney #2" worked on your team?
A: Peter Strzok worked for me for a period of time.

.@RepJeffries also declines to say "I'm fucked."

Mueller says it's accurate that @realDonaldTrump knew he should not have asked McGahn to fire him.

@RepJeffries @realDonaldTrump Now @RepKenBuck attacking Mueller for not declining to charge @realDonaldTrump, says he's never heard of a case where a charging decision was accompanied by a statement to the press (LIE. See Clinton, Hillary).

@RepJeffries @realDonaldTrump @RepKenBuck Now @RepKenBuck suggesting that nothing @realDonaldTrump did violated a specific law, asking Mueller if there was sufficient evidence to convict on obstruction.
Mueller: We did not make that calculation because the OLC opinion indicates that we could not indict a sitting POTUS.

@RepJeffries @realDonaldTrump @RepKenBuck Buck: You threw a bunch of stuff against the wall to see what would stick.
Mueller: I would not agree with that characterization at all.
Buck: Could you charge POTUS with a crime after he left office?
Mueller: Yes.

@RepJeffries @realDonaldTrump @RepKenBuck @RepAndyBiggsAZ asking if Mueller knew there wasn't sufficient evidence to charge conspiracy before he wrote the report.

Wouldn't this be obvious?

@RepJeffries @realDonaldTrump @RepKenBuck @RepAndyBiggsAZ Biggs asking Mueller about the meeting with @realDonaldTrump, whether he discussed @Comey. Mueller says no.

@RepJeffries @realDonaldTrump @RepKenBuck @RepAndyBiggsAZ @Comey .@RepSwalwell is up, asking Mueller about the letter signed by over 1,000 former federal prosecutors.

Asks if they're wrong.

Mueller: They have a different case.

Swalwell yields his time to @RepTedLieu

@RepJeffries @realDonaldTrump @RepKenBuck @RepAndyBiggsAZ @Comey @RepSwalwell @RepTedLieu Now @RepMcClintock is asking if Mueller knew he was under consideration as special counsel when he met with @realDonaldTrump, Mueller says no.

McClintock moves on to "political bias," asks why he edited transcript to "hide exculpatory evidence," Mueller says he wouldn't characterize it that way.

Now he's asking why Klimnick wasn't outed as a State intel source in his report.

Mueller: I would not say...that occured.

Now @RepMcClintock saying Russian government wasn't responsible for troll farms, asking Mueller why he said it was.

Mueller: I'm not getting into that...I would dispute your characterization of what occured.

@RepMcClintock .@RepMcClintock now accusing Mueller of making "a political case" against POTUS.

Mueller: I don't think you all have reviewed a report that is...as fair as the one we have in front of us.

@RepMcClintock Now @RepRaskin asking about Trump lawyers pushing @MichaelCohen212 to keep defending @realDonaldTrump.

Raskin trying to get Mueller to say POTUS was involved in lawyers asking Cohen to lie, Mueller isn't biting.

@RepMcClintock @RepRaskin @MichaelCohen212 @realDonaldTrump Raskin now reading section of report about POTUS trying to get @MichaelCohen212 to not cooperate with prosecutors.

Mueller: "I believe that's accurate."

@RepMcClintock @RepRaskin @MichaelCohen212 @realDonaldTrump Now @DebbieLesko talking to Mueller about him saying that the OLC opinion is why @realDonaldTrump was not charged when Barr said the opposite. No question.

Q: Were you fired?
A: No.
Q: Were you allowed to complete your investigation unencumbered?
A: Yes.

More @DebbieLesko
Q: Did AG Barr say anything inaccurate in his statement?
A: What you are not mentioning is the letter we sent on March 27th. The letter speaks for itself.

@DebbieLesko Lesko is flustered, moves on to attacking Mueller for "relying on media." Asks how many times he cited various news outlets.

Mueller: "I have no idea."

Lesko: It seems that "volume 2 is mostly regurgitated press stories." She then lies about it costing taxpayers money (false).

@DebbieLesko Next up is @RepJayapal, who asks about whether @realDonaldTrump witness tampered with Paul Manafort.

Mueller says Trump meant cooperation w/ law enforcement when talking about "flipping."

@DebbieLesko @RepJayapal @realDonaldTrump .@GReschenthaler is now invoking Janet Reno to attack Mueller for writing his report because AG Barr released the report.

@DebbieLesko @RepJayapal @realDonaldTrump @GReschenthaler .@GReschenthaler: Did you publish a lengthy report...
Mueller: I did not operate under the (expired) Independent Counsel statute.
Q: Did you write your report knowing it would be made public?
A: No.
Q: You left out exculpatory evidence, correct?
A: No.

@DebbieLesko @RepJayapal @realDonaldTrump @GReschenthaler .@GReschenthaler You made a decision not to prosecute, correct?
Mueller: No, we made a decision not to decide either way.
Q: You compiled dirt on POTUS to release it, correct?
A: Not true.

@DebbieLesko @RepJayapal @realDonaldTrump @GReschenthaler .@GReschenthaler yields to @jim_jordan who asks about FISA, Mueller doesn't bite.

@DebbieLesko @RepJayapal @realDonaldTrump @GReschenthaler @Jim_Jordan .@RepLouCorrea getting into how @realDonaldTrump thought firing @GenFlynn Flynn would get rid of the Russia probe, and his attempts to get @Comey to back off Flynn.

@DebbieLesko @RepJayapal @realDonaldTrump @GReschenthaler @Jim_Jordan @RepLouCorrea @GenFlynn @Comey Now @RepBenCline is attacking Mueller for his "creative legal analysis" of obstruction of justice statutes, talking about how the law was passed to deal with document shredding.

@DebbieLesko @RepJayapal @realDonaldTrump @GReschenthaler @Jim_Jordan @RepLouCorrea @GenFlynn @Comey @RepBenCline Q: In analyzing the obstruction, you recognize that courts have not resolved these issues, correct?
A: Correct?
Q: Not everyone at DOJ agreed, correct?
A: Not going to get into it.
Q: The AG disagrees with you?
A: I'm going to leave that to the AG.

@DebbieLesko @RepJayapal @realDonaldTrump @GReschenthaler @Jim_Jordan @RepLouCorrea @GenFlynn @Comey @RepBenCline Now @RepBenCline getting into Andrew Weissman/Enron but Mueller isn't biting.

"I'm not getting involved in a discussion on that."

Mueller tries to respond, he interrupts and moves on to invoke @HillaryClinton and @BarackObama

Mueller: Andrew Weissman is one of the more talented attorneys we have...

.@marygayscanlon getting into whether @realDonaldTrump had advance knowledge about WikiLeaks dumps.

She's invoking Michael Cohen testimony, but Mueller isn't biting.

@marygayscanlon @realDonaldTrump Now @RepGregSteube (last GOP) asks Mueller about his meeting with @realDonaldTrump about the FBI, Mueller makes clear that he wasn't under consideration.
Q: Do you have evidence that Americans changed votes to Trump because of Russian interference.
A: Not going to speak to that.

@marygayscanlon @realDonaldTrump @RepGregSteube Steube: When did you know Steele dossier was used in Page FISA?
Mueller: Not going to get into that.
Q: When did you interview Christopher Steele?
A: Not going to get into that
Steube: [yells at Mueller]
Mueller: Others are investigating it, I am not going to answer.

@marygayscanlon @realDonaldTrump @RepGregSteube Steube: [rambles about spying on a political campaign]
Mueller: I don't agree with your characterization of that but I'm not going to say anything more.

@marygayscanlon @realDonaldTrump @RepGregSteube Steube: You're not going to respond to anything about Steele?
Mueller: I already said that it's not in my purview.

.@RepArmstrongND is returning to Peter Stzrok, asks if he was fired.
Mueller: No, he was transferred.
Q: When did you know Andrew Weissman attended Hillary Clinton's election night party?
A: Not sure.

Q: Isn't a conflict that Weissman said nice things to Sally Yates?
A: I'm not going to get into that.

Mueller: We strove to hire those individuals that could do the job...in 25 years, I've never had occasion to ask anyone about their political affiliation. It's not done.

Mueller: We hired 19 lawyers. of those 19, 14 were transferred from elsewhere in DOJ --
Armstrong: [interrupts, implies all this is political and Democrats wouldn't trust the report if it was Hillary Clinton].

After @RepJoeNeguse asks if @DonaldJTrumpJr took the 5th, Mueller declines to answer.

@RepJoeNeguse @DonaldJTrumpJr Now @RepMikeJohnson accusing Mueller's team of bias, talking about a "team of Democrat investigators."

@RepJoeNeguse @DonaldJTrumpJr @RepMikeJohnson Not sure if Johnson has a question, but Mueller does not appear amused.

@RepJoeNeguse @DonaldJTrumpJr @RepMikeJohnson Johnson is lying about @realDonaldTrump demanding that Mueller's investigation be ended, but he calls it a "fact."

@RepJoeNeguse @DonaldJTrumpJr @RepMikeJohnson @realDonaldTrump A question! Johnson: Your report does not recommend impeachment?
Mueller: I'm not going to talk about that.

@RepJoeNeguse @DonaldJTrumpJr @RepMikeJohnson @realDonaldTrump .@gregstantonaz finally lets Mueller defend his team.