Trump news: Mueller testimony says president could face criminal charges as Trump rails against 'disaster' hearing
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Your support makes all the difference.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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Mr Mueller affirms that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort discussed strategy with Russian official Konstantin Kilimnik, and internal polling.
Mr Mueller is being asked about Russians being armed with "inside information" that was "stolen" from the DNC, and "given" to them by Mr Manafort.
Mr Mueller once again notes that his team did not make a determination on whether Mr Trump obstructed justice.
Mr Mueller once again confirms that the report does not exonerate Donald Trump.
Mr Mueller says that the situation with Donald Trump is a "unique situation" when asked whether there are other instances in which the Department of Justice has rules regarding exoneration if an individual is not determined to be conclusively innocnet.
Representative John Ratcliffe is making the point that the bedrock of the American judicial system is that individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Mr Ratcliffe has accused Mr Mueller of deviating from special counsel rules by discussing potential crimes that have not been charged.
Mr Mueller affirms a portion of his report in which he indicates his team determined there was sufficient evidence to continue to investigate obstruction of justice by Donald Trump or his campaign.
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat, is asking about obstruction — specifically if evidence indicates that a "thorough FBI investigation" could unearth information that Mr Trump would have been aware could have implicated him.
Mr Mueller affirms that is related to obstruction of justice.
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