‘Russia may meddle again’
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller Wednesday testified to the US House Judiciary Committee regarding his investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US elections.
Mueller, however, stuck to his previous stand and did not disclose any information beyond what was already in the report.
Though he said that his report did not “exonerate” US President Donald Trump from “obstruction of justice”. He also refuted Trump’s characterisation of his investigation as a “witch hunt”. Mueller, however, warned US legislators that Russia is likely to meddle again in the upcoming presidential elections next year.
Lacklustre performance
The back and forth question-answer session, which went on for more than seven hours, left the Democratic party unsatisfied. They were hoping for a fiery testimony – which would strengthen their case for launching impeachment proceedings against Trump.
But contrary to their expectations, Mueller’s performance was termed “lacklustre” and “very, very painful to watch”.
“In his responses Wednesday, Mueller ducked, obfuscated and deployed Latinate jargon to avoid saying anything that could be used as a clip on the evening news. He even showed deference to Republican assertions that the FBI investigation had been a plot concocted by biased public servants and agents of Hillary Clinton,” remarked Edward Luce, columnist for The Financial Times.
While such a performance left the Democrats quibbling, the White House and the Republican Party were overjoyed by a ‘mundane’ Mueller performance. A White House official told Politico that Mueller “simply seemed past his prime and incapable of doing Trump much harm.”
No help for ‘impeach Trump camp’
But a more pragmatic analysis suggests that this hearing was unlikely to strengthen the case for an impeachment.
“Robert Mueller failed to deliver what critics of President Trump wanted Wednesday, but they must be getting used to it by now,” writes Josh Gerstein for Politico.
Previously, the Mueller report did not indict Trump and subsequently he refused to comment on anything beyond what the report already talks about. Thus making the case for an impeachment unlikely.
Fundamentally, the US House Speaker Nansy Pelosi, who is from the Democratic Party is against starting impeachment proceedings. It has been reported that Pelosi believes there is too little public support for it.