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Democrats and Republicans pursue separate lines of attack ahead of Mueller testimony

June 26, 2019

House Republicans said they are eager to question former special counsel Robert Mueller when he testifies in open session before two House panels next month.

While Democrats have spent weeks seeking an appearance from Mueller so they can ask about President Trump's efforts to obstruct his two-year investigation into Russian collusion during the 2016 presidential campaign, the GOP is planning a much different line of questioning.

Republicans see Mueller's appearance as an opportunity to show that the investigation into the president was politically motivated and dragged on much longer than needed after it was determined neither Trump nor his campaign colluded with Russians.

"The obvious question is the one everyone in the country wants to know," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a top member of the Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday as he headed to the House floor for a vote. "And that is, when did you first know there was no coordination, conspiracy and collusion?"

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., announced Tuesday that Mueller will appear on July 17 in an open session to face questions from lawmakers.

Schiff said Mueller is expected to appear first before the House Judiciary Committee and then the Intelligence panel. Mueller is also expected to face questions that include classified material in a closed session.

Democrats told the Washington Examiner they plan to zero in on Mueller's brief statement last month in which he addressed his inability to exonerate Trump from any wrongdoing.

"If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so," Mueller said on May 29.

Democrats want to know more.

"I'd like to know why he thought it was so important to say that the investigation does not exonerate the president," Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., a member of the Judiciary Committee, said, previewing her questions.

"He certainly wanted Congress to know, and the American people to know, that this report does not clear the president. What was he looking at? What was he considering that he felt so strongly about, that he did not want anyone to walk away believing that the president had not been engaged in wrongdoing?"

Republicans, however, believe the report clears Trump of wrongdoing and they will use Mueller's appearance to turn the spotlight on whether the investigation was legitimate in the first place.

"The origins of the Russia investigation in its entirety," Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said, when asked how he would question Mueller. "And when did they determine President Trump or then-candidate Trump, was no longer the core focus of the investigation?"

Republicans also plan to ask about how Mueller handled ousted FBI agents Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump text messages were exposed during the probe. The two agents were part of the team that initiated the investigation into Trump's campaign in 2016.

"Did he really check into how biased Mr. Strzok was, and how that impacted his work?" Jordan said.

And the GOP will question Mueller about the origins of the FISA warrants used to justify secretly investigating Trump campaign aides, Republicans said.

They'll also ask Mueller about how he chose his team of investigators who were made up largely of registered Democratic and Hillary Clinton donors, Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., told Fox News on Wednesday.

"The list is long and it will get longer," Collins said, when asked about the GOP line of questioning.

Republicans said Democrats face the risk of Mueller's appearance backfiring on them.

Mueller has already informed Congress he won't divulge more than what he included in the report, some of which will be off-limits because it is classified or includes grand jury information.

Democrats may end up simply asking Mueller to read parts of the already public report, Republicans said.

"It locks you into a framework where you are not getting anything new," Biggs said. "And it becomes almost sensationalized."

Demings disagreed.

Mueller's appearance will be critical for Democrats to decide what steps to take next in their investigation of the president, she said.

"Let's start with the fact that it's so powerful," Demings said of Mueller's testimony. "To hear the report, those critical portions of the report, in his own words. To hear his own voice say he didn't exonerate the president."

Some Republicans are shrugging off Mueller's appearance, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. They don't expect to hear anything new.

"Mueller has made it clear that he has already issued his report, and even if he testified he wouldn't have anything different to say," Scalise said. "I'm not sure why they want to keep dragging on his impeachment march."