By Samantha Bartholomew
House Democrats released a statement July 12 that Robert Mueller’s long-anticipated public hearing has been pushed to July 24.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said in a joint statement that Mueller’s public appearance had been pushed back at the former special counsel’s request, and that, in delaying his testimony, Mueller had agreed to appear for an extended period.
“This will allow the American public to gain further insight into the special counsel’s investigation and the evidence uncovered regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and President Trump’s possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power,” chairmen Nadler and Schiff said in a joint statement.
Mueller will testify for three hours before the Judiciary panel and then give testimony to the Intelligence Committee for two hours. The entire session will be open to the public.
The Mueller report said investigators found insufficient evidence to show a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election and reached no conclusion about whether Trump obstructed justice — despite laying out episodes of the president apparently seeking to hinder the investigation.
However, in May 2019 Mueller spoke to the public and stated that he could neither clear nor accuse Trump of obstructing justice. Mueller and his team have stated that they are bound by the Department of Justice’s policy that forbids the indictment of a sitting president.
“All members — Democrats and Republicans — of both committees will have a meaningful opportunity to question the Special Counsel in public, and the American people will finally have an opportunity to hear directly from Mr. Mueller about what his investigation uncovered,” Nadler and Schiff said in a joint statement.
Mueller’s testimony starts at 8:30 a.m. on July 24.