Mueller’s caution drains drama from Hill hearing as lawmakers fulminate

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Mueller: The report is my testimony and I will stay in that text

Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivers an opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Russia investigation and says he cannot answer questions on the initial opening of the FBI investigation or the Steele dossier.

Robert Mueller began his day on Capitol Hill by periodically clearing his throat, asking for questions to be repeated, and deflecting inquiries by saying “I would have to refer you to the report.”

That, along with his carefully parsed replies, quickly drained much of the drama from Mueller’s House testimony, despite the live coverage across broadcast and cable networks.

The raised voices came from the panel members, as Democrats and Republicans read from the 448-page report and tried to get the witness to endorse their points.

Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler got Mueller to say his report does not support President Trump’s claim that it “exonerated” him. Nadler also got Mueller to say that the report did not conclude that Trump’s didn’t commit obstruction of justice—as it explicitly said four months ago.

While Nadler broke no new ground, he concluded his questioning by declaring “anyone else would have been criminally prosecuted.”

Republican John Ratcliffe lectured the former special counsel for detailing the probe of alleged obstruction, saying this violated the terms of his appointment since he made no decision on prosecuting, based on Justice Department guidelines.

The president isn’t above the law, Ratcliffe shouted, but “he damn sure shouldn’t be below the law.”

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Despite earlier hints that Democrats would have the former FBI director read from the report for theatrical effect, they didn’t do that. Instead, they would read what they viewed as incriminating passages themselves, and Mueller would tersely assent: “That’s in the report, yes.”

When Republicans tried to lead Mueller into talking about the Steele dossier, Fusion GPS or other areas involving the origins of the Russia probe, Mueller would say: “It’s outside my purview.”

Even with Louie Gohmert thundering that Mueller should have handled rogue FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page differently—"You perpetuated injustice!”—Mueller calmly explained he had Strzok transferred upon learning of his anti-Trump texts.

Under Democratic questioning about Trump privately dropping an F-bomb and saying Mueller’s appointment meant the end of his presidency, the ex-Marine remained clipped in his reaction.

In short, Bob Mueller did what he said he was going to do, repeatedly invoking the report and largely refusing to go beyond it. He constantly said “I can’t get into that.” His affect was flat, his delivery mumbled. He often hesitated, asking for page numbers so he could check the report under rapid-fire questioning. It was clear he didn’t want to be there.

The net effect is that Democratic and Republican lawmakers posed their questions and made their partisan cases with little cooperation from the much-anticipated witness. With his sometimes monosyllabic responses, Mueller refused to be used as a prop for either side.

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In a Fox News poll out today, 49 percent said there was no chance that Mueller’s testimony would change their view of Trump, while 23 percent said there was a small chance, 11 percent some chance and 8 percent a strong chance.

The hearing so far has to be a bigger disappointment to the Democrats, since they were counting on the televised spectacle to dramatize Trump’s conduct and reignite public interest in the investigation.