WATCH LIVE: Mueller Testifies On Capitol Hill About 2016 Election Interference

Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before the House judiciary and intelligence committees on Wednesday. He didn’t want to appear, but lawmakers insisted that he tell his story in public. Above, he appears on May 29 at the Justice Department.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before the House judiciary and intelligence committees on Wednesday. He didn't want to appear, but lawmakers insisted that he tell his story in public. Above, he appears on May 29 at the Justice Department.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before the House judiciary and intelligence committees on Wednesday. He didn’t want to appear, but lawmakers insisted that he tell his story in public. Above, he appears on May 29 at the Justice Department.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before the House judiciary and intelligence committees on Wednesday. He didn't want to appear, but lawmakers insisted that he tell his story in public. Above, he appears on May 29 at the Justice Department.

WATCH LIVE: Mueller Testifies On Capitol Hill About 2016 Election Interference

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Former special counsel Robert Mueller is appearing before Congress on Wednesday to talk about his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and actions since by President Trump.

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Mueller didn’t want to testify before Congress. The former special counsel said in a brief statement at the Justice Department this year that his report was his testimony and that he didn’t think it would be appropriate for him to star in a big set piece event on Capitol Hill.

Democrats, however, insisted. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., says it’ll be valuable simply for more Americans to see and hear Mueller on TV describing what he found in his investigation, given that many people haven’t read his report.

Mueller documented a vast wave of interference by Russia’s government in the 2016 presidential election with the object of hurting candidate Hillary Clinton and helping Trump get elected. The special counsel’s office also documented many contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russians during that time but did not establish a criminal conspiracy related to the election.

Volume II of Mueller’s report details a number of instances that Democrats and other critics have called obstruction of justice, including attempts by Trump to remove Mueller himself — and then cover up those same efforts.

President sanguine

Trump and his aides insist they’re unconcerned about Mueller’s testimony.

The special counsel’s office closed without bringing any more criminal charges against Trump’s inner circle, and Trump has stressed that he views Mueller’s report — which explicitly does not exonerate the president — as an exoneration.

Trump’s private lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said the legal team won’t have a “war room” running to countermessage Mueller’s testimony. Trump allies inside and outside the White House say they believe the former special counsel won’t stray beyond his report.

“Bob said his report is his report,” Sekulow said. “I expect his testimony will be his report. So I don’t expect anything new.”

Trump has revisited some of his old attacks on Mueller as being “conflicted” and a “never Trumper” but also sought to appear calm about the hearings.

The hearing is scheduled to start at a time when Trump often watches TV and posts on Twitter. The only thing on Trump’s schedule for Wednesday is a private fundraiser later in the day in West Virginia.

The president said he isn’t planning to tune in to see Mueller — and then also said, “Maybe I’ll see a little bit of it.”

NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith contributed to this report.

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