It’s safe to say that Robert Mueller, the former special counsel, doesn’t want to appear before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on Wednesday. It’s a good bet that Mueller will refer lawmakers repeatedly to the pages of the two-volume report that he and his team released in April. Questions about collusion? See Volume 1. Questions about obstruction? See Volume 2. As his actions since being appointed special counsel, two years ago, have made plain, he doesn’t want to be seen as a political actor. Leave politics to the politicians. Mueller, a former F.B.I. director, sees himself as a fact finder, a scrupulous prosecutor.
In the lead-up to the Wednesday hearing, Democrats have been trying to manage expectations. Mueller won’t be leading any impeachment push. But just hearing him recite his report’s conclusions aloud, Democrats hope, will exert some force on public opinion. Mueller’s report details Russia’s effort to influence the 2016 election, and the points of contact between Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign and the Russian government—even if it doesn’t spell out clear collusion. The report also details numerous instances of President Trump potentially obstructing justice in the aftermath of his campaign—even if it doesn’t recommend federal charges, thanks to Justice Department rules and Mueller’s decision, at the end of his investigation, “not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment.” Even if Mueller stays within the “four corners” of his report, his words would stand in contrast to those of Trump and his Attorney General, William Barr, who have declared the report and its findings an exoneration. And yet it’s hard to imagine that Democrats won’t try to poke, prod, or provoke some news out of Mueller. For two years, they’ve been waiting for him to speak. Now they’ll hear what he has to say.
