Mueller's Testimony Before House Panels to Be Put Off for a Week
House Democrats are discussing potential changes to the format of Robert Mueller’s testimony, including a possible one-week delay
(Bloomberg) -- The highly anticipated testimony of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller before two House committees will be put off for one week, the panel leaders announced on Friday night.
Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York and Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff of California said in a joint statement that they had reached an agreement with Mueller to appear on July 24 so that he could be questioned for an additional hour by Nadler’s panel.
“This will allow the American public to gain further insight into the special counsel’s investigation and the evidence uncovered regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and President Trump’s possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power,” the two Democratic congressmen said.
There was no mention in the announcement of whether any of Mueller’s former deputies on the special counsel’s staff have agreed, as requested, to provide closed-door interviews.
One person familiar with the matter said that former members of the staff would not testify under the agreement with Mueller, and all the questioning would unfold in public.
Another person, however, said that a senior member of Mueller’s team had testified privately to the Intelligence Committee for five hours and that negotiations with the Justice Department for the possible appearance of others on the staff was continuing.
Both people were granted anonymity to discuss the deliberations.
The jockeying came as both parties in the House prepared for a pivotal encounter with Mueller, who was subpoenaed by the Democrats to discuss his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2020 election and possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump.
The former special prosecutor’s testimony is the best chance that Democrats have to revive their stymied inquiries of the president.
The expanded up-to-three hours questioning by the Judiciary Committee will help to resolve bipartisan complaints from the 41-member panel.
Under the previously planned setup, Democrats and Republicans would have split the two hours evenly, one hour per party. That left members on both sides of the aisle complaining that more junior members would not get to ask questions under a five-minute rule.
“I appreciate news the chairman has taken seriously the concerns Judiciary Republicans raised this week,” said the committee’s top Republican, Doug Collins of Georgia, in a statement. “The new format will allow all Judiciary Republicans to question the special counsel on July 24.”
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat and Judiciary member, said the issue had nothing to do with members wanting the spotlight -- or their egos.
“Every single member of the House Democratic Caucus and the entire Judiciary Committee should be able to participate in the hearing in some way, shape or form," Jeffries added.
Mueller has made clear he has no intention of saying anything beyond the 448-page report he delivered in April. In the report, he said he and his staff did not conclude that those around Trump conspired in Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign but that he couldn’t exonerate Trump on allegations he sought to obstruct the Russia inquiry.
Trump has ridiculed the Democrats for their planned hearings with the witness who he called the “conflicted and compromised” Mueller.
“He said he was ‘done’ after his last 9 minute speech, and that he had nothing more to say outside of the No Collusion, No Obstruction, Report,” Trump tweeted on Thursday. “Enough already, go back to work!
--With assistance from Margaret Talev.
To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Larry Liebert
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