With all eyes on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, former special Counsel Robert Mueller began his much-anticipated testimony by largely repeating what he outlined in April in his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election — but stating very clearly that in the investigation, “the president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed.”
Mueller’s testimony comes amid growing pressure from some Democrats to impeach the president, which have been reinvigorated by the support of 2020 presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
While testifying in front of the House Judiciary Committee, Mueller said that the "Russian government interfered in our election in a sweeping and systematic fashion.” He later said that effort was one of the “most serious” threats to American democracy.
The former special counsel further emphasized what he had said in his report: that he was unable to confirm that the president had not obstructed justice, but that there was not enough evidence to charge the president, either.
“[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government in its election interference activities. We did not address 'collusion,' which is not a legal term,” said Mueller.
“Rather, we focused on whether the evidence was sufficient to charge any member of the campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy. It was not.”
When asked by Rep. Jerry Nadler, Mueller added that the president could potentially be indicted once he left office.
Mueller said that it was true that he tried to pursue an interview with the president for over a year, but that the commander-in-chief had refused.
The first hearing appeared to focus largely on the nature of the investigation, and not the actions of the president.
Throughout Mueller’s testimony, lawmakers’ questions were frequently delayed by the former special counsel’s requests for questions to be repeated. He often deferred to the text of the report.
Mueller faced aggressive questioning from Republican representatives who argued that Mueller’s emphasis on not exonerating the president violated the presumption of innocence and interrogation over his relationship with former FBI head James Comey.
The second hearing at the House Intelligence Committee largely rehashed the topics discussed in the first, including Mueller's relationship with the president, his finding that a sitting president could not be indicted, the difference between collusion and conspiracy, the meaning of the term "exonerate," and the threat of foreign adversaries in American elections.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook's lawyer says she'll sue President Donald Trump's administration to try to prevent him from firing her. Longtime Washington attorney Abbe Lowell said Tuesday that Trump “has no authority to remove” Cook. If Trump succeeds in removing Cook from the Fed's board of governors, it could erode the Fed’s political independence, which is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables the Fed to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. The Republican president said Monday he was removing Cook because of allegations she committed mortgage fraud. Cook was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022 and says she won't step down.
Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook late Wednesday said she wouldn’t leave her post after Trump on social media called on her to resign over an accusation from one his officials that she committed mortgage fraud.
Politico's Marcia Brown breaks down the MAHA draft roadmap: industry-friendly, light on regulation, heavy on research and voluntary food policy changes.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan says he’s “always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards” after coming under pressure following President Donald Trump’s call for him to resign.
Millions of Americans saving for retirement through 401(k) accounts could have the option of putting their money in higher-risk private equity and cryptocurrency investments.
