Mueller says he 'generally' agrees with sentiment that Trump officials lies inhibited his investigation
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
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.
Mueller investigation: The key figures
Show all 12
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.
Mr Mueller says Michael Flynn was secretly doing work with Turkey, and that could leave him open to compromise ("I presume"), and the same for Flynn's contacts with Russians.
Mr Mueller demurs when asked if Mr Trump would potentially be exposed based upon his conversations with Russians.
Mr Schiff notes that Russia worked to upend the American election, and that the 2016 contest was determined by a "handful" of votes in a "few key states".
Mr Schiff is promising to look into money laundering, whether current members of the Trump administration could be open to compromise, whether Gulf Nations could influence foreign policy, and other issues.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies