Thread by @nowthisnews

Rep. Nadler: '[Mueller] conducted his investigation with remarkable integrity...even when you were subjected to repeated and grossly unfair personal attacks. Your indictments spoke for you in astonishing detail.'

Rep. Nadler: 'In your report, you offer the country accountability as well.' #MuellerHearing

Rep. Nadler: 'Any other person who acted in this way would've been charged with crimes...we have a responsibility to address the evidence you've uncovered' #MuellerHearing

Rep. Nadler: 'There must be accountability...especially when it relates to the President.' #MuellerHearing

Rep. Collins (R-GA): 'No one in the president's campaign colluded or conspired with the Russians...[the president's] innocence was established early on.' #MuellerHearing

Rep. Collins (R-GA): 'The president did not conspire with the Russians...nothing we hear today will change that fact.' #MuellerHearing

Rep. Collins (R-GA): 'Every American enjoys the presumption of innocence and guarantee of due process.' #MuellerHearing

And we're off. #MuellerHearing

Mueller: 'I [accepted the job of special counsel] because I believed it was of paramount interest to the nation.' #MuellerHearing

Mueller: 'It was in the public interest for our investigation...not to last a day longer than was necessary. Second, the investigation needed to be conducted fairly and with absolute integrity.' #MuellerHearing

Mueller: '7 defendants have been convicted or pled guility [as a result of the investigation so far].' #MuellerHearing

Mueller: 'I made a few limited remarks in May of this year, but there are certain points that bear emphasis...the Russian government interfered in our investigation in sweeping and systemic fashion.' #MuellerHearing

Mueller: Not enough evidence any member of the Trump campaign entered into a 'criminal conspiracy' with Russians #MuellerHearing

Mueller: 'Based on Justice Dept. policy...we decided not to make a determination whether the president committed [obstruction of justice]. That was our decision then and our decision now.' #MuellerHearing

Mueller says no questions on Steele Dossier or opening of the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign, adds 'These matters are subject of ongoing review by the department. Any questions on these topics should be directed to the FBI or Justice Dept.' #MuellerHearing

Mueller: 'The report is my testimony, and I will stay within that text.' Adds he will not answer questions about the actions of Attorney General Barr in the wake of that report's release. #MuellerHearing

Mueller: 'Over the course of my career I have seen a number of challenges to our democracy...the Russians effort to undermine our democracy is among the most serious.' #MuellerHearing

Mueller: It is correct that my report does not exonerate President Trump for obstruction of justice. #MuellerHearing

Mueller: 'At the outset we determined that, when it came to the President's culpability, we needed to go forward after taking into account the OLC opinion that a sitting president cannot be indicted.' #MuellerHearing

Rep. Nadler asks Mueller if his report 'totally exonerates' the president.

Mueller: No.

#MuellerHearing

Mueller: 'The president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed [with regard to obstruction of justice].'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Nadler: 'Under DOJ policy, the president could be prosecuted for obstruction of justice crimes after leaving office?'

Mueller: 'True.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Nadler: 'The president refused to sit for an interview by you or your team?'

Mueller: 'True.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Collins (R-GA): 'At any time was your investigation stopped or hindered?'

Mueller: 'No.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Collins (R-GA): 'Is it true that the evidence found in your investigation did not find [evidence of criminal conspiracy by President Trump].'

Mueller: 'We found insufficient evidence of the president's culpability.'

Rep. Collins (R-GA): 'In the colloquial, public context, collusion and conspiracy are essentially synonymous terms, correct?'

Mueller: 'No.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Lofgren (D-CA): 'To what extent did the Russian government interfere in the 2016 election?'

Mueller: 'Particularly when it came to computer crimes and the like, the government was implicated.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Lofgren (D-CA) asks Mueller if his investigation found that Manafort briefed Russian political operative Konstantin Kilimnik on strategies of the Trump campaign?'

Mueller: 'That's correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Lofgren (D-CA) asks Mueller if the Trump campaign thought it would benefit from Russian election interference.

Mueller: 'That's correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Ratcliffe (R-TX): 'Nowhere does it say that you were to conclusively to determine Donald Trump's innocence...nowhere do those words appear together. It was not the Special Counsel's job.' Adds all Americans, including POTUS, are entitled to the presumption of innocence

Rep. Ratcliffe (R-TX): 'Americans need to know this...Vol. 2 of this report was not authorized under the law to be written. It was written to a legal standard that does not exist at the DOJ.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Lee (D-TX): Does your report state there is sufficient factual and legal basis for further investigation of potential obstruction of justice by the President?

Mueller: 'Yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Lee (D-TX) asks if it is true that obstruction of justice can be committed to protect non-criminal interests as well as criminal ones.

Mueller: 'Yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Lee (D-TX): 'Is it true that obstruction of justice warrants a lot of time in jail?'

Mueller: 'Yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI): Since you decided you could not prosecute the President under the OLC opinion, why did this investigation continue?

Mueller: 'The OLC opinion itself says you can continue and investigation itself even if you are not going to indict the president.'

Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI): 'You never use the term 'raising to impeachable conduct' for any of the 10 instances [of potential obstruction]?'

Mueller: '[We kept] in the center of our investigation our mandate. Our mandate does not go to other ways of addressing conduct.'

Rep. Cohen (D-TN) asks if it's likely the president wasn't pleased with Mueller's appointment because of his (positive) reputation.

Mueller: 'That's correct.'

Rep. Cohen (D-TN) asks Mueller if the president tried to get AG Sessions to unrecuse himself from the investigation on multiple occasions.

Mueller: 'That's correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Chabot (R-OH) is the first member of the Committee to ask about the production of the Steele Dossier.

Mueller repeatedly declining to answer questions about the Dossier, saying 'It's not my purview.' #MuellerHearing

Rep. Chabot (R-OH) asks Mueller if it's fair to characterize his report as one-sided against the President.

Mueller: 'This is still outside my purview.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Johnson (D-GA) asks Mueller if President Trump directed White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller as Special Counsel mid-investigation.

Mueller: 'Yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Gohmert (R-TX) begins his questioning by questioning Mueller on his relationship with James Comey.

Mueller: 'We were business associates. We were friends'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Gohmert (R-TX) using his 5 minutes to repeatedly criticizing Mueller for his staffing decisions, specifically citing case of Peter Strzok.

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Deutch (D-FL): 'The White House counsel thought the president's request [to fire the Special Counsel' was out of bounds...You found White House counsel McGahn to be a credible witness?'

Mueller: 'Correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Deutch (D-FL) asks Mueller if the president's order to fire him was related to the fact that he was under investigation by the Special Counsel.

Mueller: 'That's what it says in the report. And I stand by the report.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Roby (R-AL) now asking Mueller about the redacted version of the report first delivered to AG Barr.

Mueller says he and the Attorney General's office worked on the redactions together.

#MuellerHearing

Mueller testifies that he and his team did not write his report with the expectation that it would be released to the public.

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Bass (D-CA) asks Mueller if President Trump told WH aide Rob Porter that he would consider firing WH counsel McGahn if McGahn did not draft a letter denying Trump had tried to fire the special counsel.

Mueller: 'Yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Jordan (R-OH): 'The FBI...spied on two American citizens associated with a presidential campaign, George Papadopoulos and Carter Page.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Richmond (D-LA): 'It's accurate to say that the President knew he was asking [WH counsel] McGahn to deny facts that he knew were true?'

Mueller: 'That is correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Richmond (D-LA): 'It's fair to say the president tried to protect himself by asking staff to falsify records relevant to an ongoing investigation?'

Mueller: 'I would say that's generally a summary.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Gaetz (R-FL): 'Can you state with confidence that the Steele Dossier is not part of the Russian disinformation campaign?'

Mueller continues his practice of declining to answer questions on Steele Dossier.

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Jeffries (D-NY): 'Your investigation found that the president took steps to terminate the special counsel, correct?'

Mueller: 'Correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Jeffries (D-NY): 'President Trump told [WH counsel] Don McGahn 'Mueller has to go,' correct?'

Mueller: 'True.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Buck (R-CO): 'I've never heard of a prosecutor declining a case and then holding a press conference about the defendant.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Buck (R-CO): 'Could you charge the president with a crime after he left office.'

Mueller: 'Yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Cicilline (D-RI): 'Mr. Lewandowski, a private citizen, was instructed by the president of the U.S. to deliver a message to the Attorney General that directed him to limit your investigation.'

Mueller: 'Correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Biggs (R-AZ) asking Mueller to explain the specific point in time when he decided Trump had not personally conspired by the Russians.

Mueller: 'I cannot say we reached a particular decision on a particular defendant at a particular point in time.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Biggs (R-AZ): 'How many times did you speak to Mr. Comey about any investigations pertaining to Russia prior to May 17, 2017?'

Mueller: 'None at all.'

#MuellerHearings

Rep. Lieu (D-CA): 'The fact that the orders by the president were not carried out, that is not a defense to obstruction...as long as you attempt to obstruct justice that would also constitute a crime?'

Mueller: 'I'm not getting into that at this juncture.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Raskin (D-MD): 'You found evidence that the president engaged in efforts to encourage witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation.'

Mueller: 'That's correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Lesko (R-AZ): 'Were you ever fired as special counsel?'

Mueller: 'No.'

Lesko: 'Were you allowed to complete your investigation unencumbered?'

Mueller: 'Yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Lesko (R-AZ) asks if AG Barr's initial press conference or 3/24 letter to Congress contained any inaccuracies about the summary of Mueller's report.

Mueller: 'A letter we sent on 3/27 to Mr. Barr raised some issues, and that letter speaks for itself.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Jayapal (D-WA): 'When someone tries to stop another person from working with law enforcement and they do it because they're worried about what another person will say...[it's] a classic definition of witness tampering.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Jayapal (D-WA) asks Mueller if Manafort's lawyers regularly conversed with Trump's lawyers about remarks Manafort made to the special counsel's office.

Mueller: 'If it's from the report, yes I support it.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Reschenthaler (R-PA): 'You made a decision not to prosecute correct?'

Mueller: 'No we made a decision not to decide whether to prosecute or not.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Correa (D-CA) asks Mueller if President Trump told Russian officials the day after firing Comey that Comey was 'crazy,' and that Trump was not under investigation.

Mueller: 'That's what's written in the report, yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Scanlon (D-PA) asks if the president refused to to sit down for an interview with special counsel investigators.

Mueller: 'That's correct.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Steube (R-FL): 'Given your 22 months of investigation...did you obtain any evidence that any American voter changed their vote as a result of Russian election interference?'

Mueller: 'I'm not gonna speak to that.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Armstrong (R-ND): Do you agree that your office had an obligation to operate with independence and also the appearance of independence?

Mueller: 'Absolutely, we strove to do that over the two years.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Neguse (D-CO) asks if it's true that Ms. Hicks went multiple times to the president to urge him to be 'fully transparent' about their summer 2017 meeting with the Russians, and the president refused her advice.

Mueller: 'Accurate.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Stanton (D-AZ): 'When you were named Director of the FBI, which president first appointed you.'

Mueller: 'Bush.'

Stanton adds that Mueller was confirmed by the Senate by a 98-0 margin.

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Stanton (D-AZ) asks Mueller if, when he asked people to join his team, he asked or considered their political affiliation.

Mueller: 'Never once.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Dean (D-PA) asks Mueller if his March 2019 letter to AG Barr raised concerns that Barr's initial summary of the report contained potential inaccuracies.

Mueller: 'The letter itself speaks for itself.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Dean (D-PA): 'Let us be clear: your report did not the exonerate the president.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Mucarsel-Powell asks Mueller whether obstruction of justice needs to succeed, or whether 'simply trying to obstruct justice can be a crime?'

Mueller: 'Yes.'

#MuellerHearing

Rep. Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL): 'The overall pattern of the president's conduct toward the investigation can shed light on the nature of the president's acts and inferences can be drawn about his intent.'

Mueller: 'Accurate.'

#MuellerHearing

That concludes the House Judiciary Committee hearing. Stay tuned for our video recaps in the minutes & hours ahead this afternoon.

Thanks for following the hearing along with us in real time, & you can catch up on all of Mueller's testimony in our THREAD:

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