Trump news: Mueller testimony says president could face criminal charges as Trump rails against 'disaster' hearing
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Robert Mueller, the former US special counsel who investigated the Russian interference into the 2016 presidential campaign and Donald Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, has testified on Capital Hill, where he was asked to explain the conclusions he reached in his report released earlier this year.
The whole world was watching, and Democrats skilfully laid out the various ways in which Mr Mueller's report shows the president obstructed justice by trying to end the Mueller report.
They said they had 10 to list, in all.
Mr Trump had repeatedly attempted to downplay or dismiss Mr Mueller’s reluctant appearance on Capitol Hill — which was forced through a subpoena — to discuss his 448-page report into the 2016 election and its aftermath, but has attacked Mr Mueller's testimony anyhow, and has claimed Mr Mueller may have been conflicted because he had interviewed for a job as FBI director just before getting his job as special counsel (Mr Mueller had done that job before, had been praised for his work in that job, and denied he had interviewed for that job as the president says).
During the first half of his testimony, Mr Mueller indicated that a major reason the president was not charged was that Justice Department rules prohibit it. Mr Mueller did note that he believes a president could be charged with a crime after leaving office.
In the end, Democrats appeared to be laying the groundwork for further investigations into Mr Trump's political world, with top leaders pledging to follow the money trail to determine if the president had acted unlawfully.
And, with the future in mind, Democrats repeatedly asked Mr Mueller if the president could be charged with a crime once he leaves office. They said he could.
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"The reason you did not indict Donald Trump is because of the OLC decision. Is that correct?" — Representative Ted Lieu
"That is correct" - Mr Mueller
"In my view if anyone else in America engaged in these actions they would've been charged with witness tampering" - Mr Raskin
Representative Debbie Lesko, on Mr Mueller saying he did not charge the president with obstruction because of the OLC decision: "That is not what you said" in the memo.
"I've gotta say it looks like volume two is mostly regurgitated press stories" - Debbie Lasko
"It seems clear based on what you wrote that this is a classic case of witness tampering," says representative Pramila Jayapal.
Here is a recap of how Democrats say the Mueller report shows Mr Trump obstructed justice, here's what they've touched on so far:
1. Mr Trump instructed Don McGahn to fire Mr Mueller
2. Mr Trump directed Mr McGahn to lie publicly, and deny he had been told to fire Mr Mueller
3. Mr Trump asked Corey Lewandowski to tell former attorney general Jeff Sessions to limit Mr Mueller's investigation to exclude Mr Trump, and to focus on future campaign interference
4. Mr Trump encouraged Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman, not to cooperate with the Mueller investigation — and offered him a pardon, and congratulated him for not "flipping"
5. Mr Trump encouraged Michael Cohen, Mr Trump's former personal lawyer, not to cooperate with federal investigators. He then turned on Mr Cohen when he decided to cooperate
Representative Val Demings: "Let's talk about lies."
"It is fair to say then that there are limits then on what evidence was available to you on both Russian election interference and obstruction of justice."
Mr Mueller says he "generally" agrees with the statement that lies from Trump campaign officials and others impeded his investigation.
Representative Lou Correa is now up and bringing up the 6th instance of obstruction Democrats plan on highlighting today.
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