Thread by @JewhadiTM

.@washingtonpost: 6 takeaways from Robert Mueller’s testimony

If Democrats hoped this would be a seminal moment, they will apparently leave sorely disappointed — in large part because their star witness was no star. washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/…

Mueller spoke haltingly, seemed not to remember key details and tripped over himself even when members weren’t trying to trip him up.

The ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Douglas A. Collins (Ga.), began by asking him whether “collusion” was colloquially the same as “conspiracy.” “No,” Mueller said flatly.

Collins then pointed to Mueller’s report, which states that certain legal dictionaries do regard the terms as “largely synonymous.” Mueller didn’t seem to have much of an answer, eventually stating that the report spoke for itself.

Later, Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Tex.) pressed Mueller on why he said he couldn’t exonerate Trump.

Republicans have argued that Mueller stepped outside his mandate, when generally people who aren’t charged with crimes are presumed innocent.

Mueller responded that this was an unusual situation, but he didn’t elaborate.

At another point, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) questioned Mueller on whether he knew that former FBI agent Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump text messages got him removed from the investigation, “hated” Trump.

“I did not know that,” Mueller said, adding that “when I did find out, I acted swiftly to have him reassigned elsewhere in the FBI.” He notably didn’t disagree with Gohmert’s premise that Strzok hated Trump.