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Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees about his report into Russian election interference and President Donald Trump. Follow live for updates, analysis and fact-checks.
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Mueller letting GOP mischaracterizations slip by
Mueller is allowing the Republicans to mischaracterize aspects of his investigation without responding, which could have the result of furthering a narrative that will reach millions of Fox viewers and other consumers of right-wing media.
The former special counsel notably did not push back when:
- Jim Jordan said the FBI “spied” on the Trump campaign, and suggested that Joseph Mifsud (the Maltese professor who told Papadopoulos the Russians had dirt on Clinton) was a U.S. agent, not a Russian agent.
- Ratcliffe (and later Rep. Buck) argued that Mueller did not follow the special counsel regulations by not making a decision on obstruction and that it was improper for Mueller to say the president had not been exonerated.
- Gaetz suggested the Russia investigation might have been the result of a set-up of the Trump campaign by Russian intelligence.
- Gohmert said Mueller hired people who didn’t like Trump, and that FBI agent Peter Strzok “hated Trump.”
All of these assertions are either false or debatable and are designed to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the investigation.
Meadows hints at 'Deep State' conspiracy theory
Mueller himself is a registered Republican, but the majority of his attorneys were registered Democrats. It’s worth noting, as PolitiFact did, that the attorneys whose registrations were obtained are registered in urban districts that are majority Democratic, where primary races typically decide the outcome of elections.
Trump supporters weigh in on 'sad' hearing
Jeffries outlines legal requirements for obstruction
Rep. Meadows opines that it's not going well for Dems
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who is not on the committee but was sitting up front, weighed in during the five-minute break.
“He seems very uninformed as to the facts," Meadows said, adding, "A 448-page report, and yet it doesn’t seem as if he has a grasp of that. ... It doesn’t seem to be going extremely well for the Democrats.”
Democrats “keep trying to get him to make explosive statements,” he said.
Meadows expects more in-depth questioning “getting to the very start of this particular investigation.”
On the Mifsud line of questioning, he said: “The report implies stronger Russian connections than are actually there. … He lied three times to the FBI and was not charged. So the question is why.”
Rep. Gaetz goes off on Mueller
Rep. Gaetz attempts to learn more from Mueller about Steele dossier
July 24, 201903:55Fact check: The FBI used the Steele dossier to spy on Carter Page
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, complained about the warrant the FBI obtained in order to scrutinize former Trump campaign aide Carter Page on Wednesday, noting that the Steele dossier was "part of the reason they were able to get a warrant."
Jordan is correct. The FBI released a redacted copy of the warrant last year, showing that Christopher Steele's dossier was at least part of the law enforcement agency's interest in Page.
Steele is a former British spy who compiled an explosive report about the president's relationship with Russia.
The FBI disclosed to the court that the information in the dossier was paid for by political opponents of candidate Trump, but said they viewed Steele as credible. Steele, released documents revealed, was a paid FBI informant for an unknown period of time.
Trump's family, Rudy Giuliani tweet on ongoing Mueller testimony
Trump reacts to the hearing
Jordan challenges Mueller on why he didn’t charge an FBI informant with lying. Mueller’s team already explained why
Jim Jordan went off in his questioning of Mueller and asked why his team did not charge Joseph Mifsud — a professor and FBI informant who met with George Papadopoulos in 2016 and allegedly told him that Russia had dirt on 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton — with lying to the FBI.
In the government’s 2018 sentencing memo for Papadopoulos, who was charged with making false statements, attorneys wrote that Papadopoulos’ “lies undermined investigators’ ability to challenge the professor or potentially detain or arrest him while he was still in the United States.”
“The government understands that the professor left the United States on February 11, 2017, and he has not returned to the United States since then,” prosecutors added.
Rosenberg: Good prosecutors set out to get facts, not get people
MSNBC legal analyst Chuck Rosenberg said that Mueller’s restraint during this hearing has highlighted that he is there to get the facts right and not have a "gotcha" moment. He noted that Mueller either points to his report or affirms a fair characterization of his report.
“That restraint sort of underscores that he's not trying to get anybody,” Rosenberg said.