The Mueller Testimony: A special edition of the Evening Briefing

2019年7月24日星期三

The Mueller Testimony: A special edition of the Evening Briefing

"Did you actually exonerate the president"? "No."

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Wednesday, July 24, 2019

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The Mueller Testimony: Fiery Hearings

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

The former special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, stood with Aaron Zebley, his longtime right-hand aide, just before the morning session of testimony began. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Q: "Did you actually totally exonerate the president?"

A: "No."

Good afternoon, and welcome to a special newsletter edition on the congressional testimony of Robert Mueller, the former special counsel charged with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Here's what has happened:

• A reluctant Mr. Mueller reiterated that Trump "was not exculpated."

• Mr. Mueller's halting performance frustrated both parties.

• Republicans and President Trump's inner circle take aim at Mr. Mueller.

• Mr. Mueller was caught in the TV Spotlight: The special counsel projected an image that caught even his allies by surprise — doddering, donnish, at times seemingly unsure of his words.

• Mr. Mueller showed rare flashes of indignation regarding WikiLeaks and Russia's tactics, and offered a stark warning about political campaigns' acceptance of foreign help. "I hope this is not the new normal," he said, "but I fear it is.

Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee spent hours grilling Mr. Mueller today about his conclusions, but extracted little information beyond what was written in his voluminous report. (Watch the highlights here.)

The highly anticipated sessions featured more sizzle than substance, as Mr. Mueller tried to stick rigorously to the information and language in the 448-page report he produced in April. The report laid bare that President Trump was elected with the help of a foreign power and cataloged his frantic efforts to undermine the investigation into Russian interference.

Mr. Trump has spent months characterizing the special counsel's report as a "total exoneration," though Mr. Mueller on Wednesday was careful to state that he and his team had drawn no such conclusion.

Mr. Mueller spoke haltingly as he testified, blunting attacks on him by Republicans but also limiting Democrats' efforts to elevate his words and raising questions about his acuity.

The former special counsel stumbled at times during his testimony, often asking lawmakers to restate their questions or seeming not to hear them, and keeping his answers as narrowly focused as he could.

The performance drew concern from some Democrats. David Axelrod, the strategist who served as a senior adviser in Barack Obama's White House, gently suggested that Mr. Mueller might not be up to his task.

"This is delicate to say, but Mueller, whom I deeply respect, has not publicly testified before Congress in at least six years," Mr. Axelrod wrote on Twitter. "And he does not appear as sharp as he was then."

Republicans treated Mr. Mueller as a hostile witness and tried to trip him up with a prosecutorial approach, often hectoring the former special counsel about specific findings in the report.

Here are some snippets from our live coverage: