Robert Mueller on Wednesday bluntly dismissed President Donald Trump’s claims of total exoneration in the federal probe of Russia’s 2016 election interference, telling Congress he explicitly did not clear the president of obstructing his investigation.
The former special counsel also rejected Trump’s assertions that the probe was a “witch hunt” and hoax.
In hours of sometimes halting and stilted testimony, unfolding at a moment of deep division in the country, Mueller also condemned Trump’s praise of WikiLeaks, which released Democratic emails stolen by Russia. He declared Russian election interference one of the greatest challenges to democracy that he had encountered in his career.
We get the latest, plus reactions from lawmakers, political analysts and legal experts.
With files from the Associated Press.
Adam Schiff, Congressman (D-CA) representing California’s 28th Congressional District, which includes Burbank, parts of Pasadena, and Glendale; chairman of the House Intelligence Committee; he tweets @RepAdamSchiff
Brad Sherman, Congressman (D-CA) representing California’s 30th U.S. Congressional district, which includes the western San Fernando Valley of LA County and eastern Simi Hills of Ventura County; he was the first member of Congress to file articles of impeachment against Trump
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco; he is a former adviser to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a former White House staffer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush
Amanda Renteria, president of Emerge America, a national organization that works to identify and train Democratic women who want to run for political office; she is the former national political director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and has been a staffer for Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); she tweets @AmandaRenteria
Charles “Cully” Stimson, senior legal fellow and manager of the National Security Law Program at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.; he tweet @cullystimson
Jens David Ohlin, vice dean and law professor at Cornell University where he focuses on criminal and international law; he tweets @LieberCode