Robert Mueller has agreed to testify before Congress on July 17 on the findings of his team’s investigation into interference in the 2016 election, but he’s already told us what he’s going to say.
In the press statement he delivered when leaving the role of special counsel, Mueller made it abundantly clear that in any testimony, he would merely reiterate the findings that were already released publicly in his report.
“There has been discussion about an appearance before Congress,” he said in May. “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. We chose those words carefully, and the work speaks for itself. The report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress.”
When he testifies next Wednesday, Democrats will ask questions that will get him to restate the most damning elements of the testimony, while Republicans will get him to reiterate that he was unable to establish coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Then, there will also be attempts by Democrats to draw him out further, as well as efforts by Republicans to criticize him for bias in the special counsel’s office and press him on questions surrounding the origins of the investigation. But on those matters, Mueller will simply state over and over again that he won’t go beyond what was already in the report.
So, next week, I’ll be watching his testimony along with everybody else in Washington. But in reality, we’ve already received his testimony.
