Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Congress must follow in the footsteps of special counsel Robert Mueller by acting “with integrity” in its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether President Trump obstructed justice.
Kicking off the high-stakes hearing, the cantankerous New York Democrat and longtime Trump foe told Mueller he “conducted that investigation with remarkable integrity.”
“We will follow your example, Director Mueller. We will act with integrity,” he said. “We will follow the facts where they lead. We will consider all appropriate remedies. We will make our recommendation to the House when our work concludes.”
Nadler claimed that “among the most shocking” of the possible instances of obstruction were when “President Trump ordered his White House counsel to have you fired and then to lie and deny that it ever happened” and when “he ordered his former campaign manager to convince the recused Attorney General to step in and limit your work.”
Nadler said Justice Department policy prevented Mueller from indicting Trump, but that Mueller “made clear” that Trump “is not exonerated.” “And in this nation, not even the president is above the law,” Nadler said.
Until now, Mueller’s only public statement on the investigation occurred during a brief press conference in May, where Mueller expressed his hesitance about testifying.
“Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report — it contains our findings and analysis and the reasons for the decisions we made,” Mueller said at the time. “The work speaks for itself and the report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress.”
Mueller reluctantly agreed to testify following subpoenas from the Democrat-led House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.
The eve of the hearing saw some last minute drama as the Justice Department instructed Mueller not to go beyond what has already been made public in his report and as Mueller requested that his chief of staff Aaron Zebley be allowed to appear alongside him.
Following the firing of FBI Director James Comey, Mueller was appointed special counsel in May 2017 to investigate any ties between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. Mueller’s 448-page report concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election, but he did not establish any sort of conspiracy or coordination between the Kremlin and any Trump associates — or any Americans, for that matter.
Mueller declined to reach a decision on obstruction of justice, but did outline 10 different episodes of possible obstruction committed by Trump during the FBI’s initial Russia investigation and during the special counsel investigation, including Trump’s alleged request to then-White House counsel Don McGahn to have acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein fire Mueller. Attorney General William Barr and Rosenstein determined Trump had not obstructed justice.
Mueller’s investigation swept up a number of Trump associates, including: former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted on bank fraud and financial fraud and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice; former Trump campaign associate George Papadopoulos, who also pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI; former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who also agreed to a guilty plea deal in connection to lies he told to agents; and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and was found guilty of campaign finance violations. Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone is charged with witness tampering and making false statements, and faces a trial later this year.
Mueller also indicted 12 Russians and alleged members of the GRU for their role in the hacking of the Democratic emails and the dissemination of those emails to WikiLeaks in 2016. Mueller indicted another 13 Russians and three Russian companies — including the Internet Research Agency — for their alleged role in social media disinformation campaigns during the election.
READ NADLER’S FULL OPENING REMARKS BELOW:
“Director Mueller, thank you for being here. I want to say just a few words about our themes today: responsibility, integrity, and accountability.
“Your career, for example, is a model of responsibility.
“You are a decorated Marine officer. You were awarded a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for valor in Vietnam. You served in senior roles at the Department of Justice and, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, you served as Director of the FBI.
“Two years ago, you returned to public service to lead the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“You conducted that investigation with remarkable integrity.
“For 22 months, you never commented in public about your work—even when you were subjected to repeated and grossly unfair personal attacks. Instead, your indictments spoke for you, and in astonishing detail.
“Over the course of your investigation, you obtained criminal indictments against 37 people and entities.
“You secured the convictions of President Trump’s campaign chairman, his deputy campaign manager, his national security advisor, and his personal lawyer, among others.
“In the Paul Manafort case alone, you recovered as much as $42 million—so that the cost of your investigation to the taxpayers approaches zero.
“And, in your report, you offer the country accountability as well.
“In Volume I, you find that the Russian government attacked our 2016 elections “in a sweeping and systematic fashion,” and that the attacks were designed to benefit the Trump campaign.
“Volume II walks us through ten separate incidents of possible obstruction of justice where, in your words, President Trump attempted to exert undue influence over your investigation.
“The President’s behavior included, and I quote from your report, “public attacks on the investigation, non-public efforts to control it, and efforts in both public and private to encourage witnesses not to cooperate.”
“Among the most shocking of these incidents, President Trump ordered his White House Counsel to have you fired and then to lie and deny that it ever happened; he ordered his former campaign manager to convince the recused Attorney General to step in and limit your work; and he attempted to prevent witnesses from cooperating with your investigation.
“Although Department policy barred you from indicting the President for this conduct, you made clear that he is not exonerated. Any other person who acted this way would have been charged with a crime. And in this nation, not even the President is above the law.
“Which brings me to this Committee’s work. Responsibility, integrity, and accountability: these are the marks by which we who serve on this Committee will be measured as well.
“Director Mueller, we have a responsibility to address the evidence you have uncovered. You recognized as much when you said “the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.”
“That process begins with the work of this Committee.
“We will follow your example, Director Mueller. We will act with integrity. We will follow the facts where they lead. We will consider all appropriate remedies. We will make our recommendation to the House when our work concludes.
“We will do this work because there must be accountability for the conduct described in your report, especially as it relates to the President.
“Thank you again, Director Mueller. We look forward to your testimony.”
