House Judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler announced that Robert Mueller will testify in a public hearing before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees on Wednesday, July 17. In a letter to the former special counsel, who has been reluctant to share his opinions on his 22-month investigation into the Trump campaign, Nadler and House Intelligence chairman Adam Schiff wrote that they “now understand it is necessary” to issue subpoenas to ensure his appearance.
In a joint statement, the two added: “Americans have demanded to hear directly from the Special Counsel so they can understand what he and his team examined, uncovered, and determined about Russia’s attack on our democracy, the Trump campaign’s acceptance and use of that help, and President Trump and his associates’ obstruction of the investigation into that attack.”
In late May, Mueller gave a press conference in which he clearly stated that his investigation did not exonerate the president — and expressed that he did not wish to testify before the House. “Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report,” Mueller said at the time. “The work speaks for itself. And the report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress.”
In an attempt to assuage Mueller, Nadler and Schiff wrote in their letter that the committees will “work with you to address legitimate concerns about preserving the integrity of your work,” referring to Mueller’s references to ongoing criminal investigations at the Department of Justice that involve threads emerging from the special counsel’s investigation. Considering Mueller’s notorious company-man pose, it’s likely that he will provide only the minimum to satisfy lawmakers’ questions.
