Democrats will try to make President Trump's behavior during the Russia investigation the focus during former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's hearings on Wednesday, according to Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
However, the hearings, before the House Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees, should reveal when Mueller concluded a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia didn't exist, Gaetz said Tuesday on "The Story."
"For 22 months, President Trump was falsely accused by my good friend, Eric Swalwell, and others of being an agent of the Russian government," he said.
"I think you'll see Democrats focus on how the president reacted to the false accusation, and I think you'll see Republicans focus on why the false accusation was made in the first place."
Gaetz, a member of the House Judiciary Committee who will be questioning Mueller, added he hopes the former FBI director doesn't, "play too cute" in his responses.
He added Mueller's testimony should not be simply equivalent to a "dramatic reading of the report."
The Florida panhandle lawmaker added it Mueller met with Attorney General William Barr shortly before his final report was made public.
"We do know of briefings the special counsel gave to the attorney general prior to the report being released, where the special counsel indicated there was not a chargeable criminal conspiracy on the collusion issue," he said.
In the run-up to the hearing, Republicans are preparing an aggressive defense of Trump, with the president's campaign and the party firing up a war room meant to highlight, "Democrat hypocrisy" -- and GOP lawmakers poised to use the hearing to scrutinize the origins of the Russia probe itself.
On the sidelines will be a political operation that rivals the counter-messaging from Republicans during Democratic presidential primary debates. This week, the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee are working together on a “multi-day bracketing effort” involving a rapid response team and full social media and digital presence.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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