Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFormer special counsel Robert Mueller told the House Intelligence Committee that election interference by Russia in 2016 was not an isolated attempt, adding Wednesday “They’re doing it as we sit here.”
Mueller testified before the House intelligence committee on his 448-page report on Russian interference, following his earlier testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
Mueller had made clear in his report that he could not exonerate President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice in the probe. The report also said investigators didn’t find sufficient evidence to establish charges of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Mueller also refused to say whether his team subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, asked Mueller if he subpoenaed the president’s eldest son or if he wanted to interview him. Mueller responded: “I’m not going to discuss that.”
Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation, which was released in April, said Trump Jr. had “declined to be voluntarily interviewed” by the special counsel’s office.
There are two lines in the report, following that statement, that are redacted because they contain grand jury information.
Trump Jr. was a key figure in a 2016 campaign meeting with a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower in New York that captured Mueller’s attention.
Mueller also Wednesday condemned President Trump’s praise for WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Testifying before the House intelligence committee, Mueller says calling it “problematic is an understatement.”
During that campaign, WikiLeaks released troves of hacked emails from the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
U.S. intelligence agencies and Mueller’s investigation determined Russian government entities were responsible for the hack and furnished the embarrassing correspondence to WikiLeaks in order to support Trump’s bid for the presidency.
Mueller told the panel he hoped to send a message with his Russia probe report “to those who come after us.” He said he wanted the report to be “a signal, a flag … don’t let this problem continue to linger.”
He also said that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was not a hoax. He said: “The indictments we returned against the Russians were substantial.”
Trump had said the allegations were a hoax perpetrated by Democrats.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.