- Robert Mueller is not expected to go far beyond his public report on the Russia investigation when he appears before Congress on Wednesday
- But Democrats and Republicans alike hope to draw the notoriously reclusive former special counsel out of his shell
- Democrats hope Mueller’s testimony will lay the ground for impeachment of President Trump, while Republicans will push hard that Mueller’s investigation was a waste of time since he found no conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian government
In the 26 months since his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election began, Robert Mueller has spoken publicly for less than 10 minutes. That changes Wednesday when the former special counsel appears for five hours of testimony before two congressional committees.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of one of the most highly-anticipated congressional hearing in decades.
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WHO: Mueller will appear first before the House Judiciary Committee and then the House Intelligence Committee. He will also be joined by his longtime chief of staff, Aaron Zebley. Democrats will be led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff. Republicans by Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins and Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes.
WHEN: The Judiciary Committee hearing starts Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. and is expected to last three hours. The intelligence panel will grill Mueller for around two hours later in the day.
WHAT: Mueller will discuss his 448-page report of the Russia probe, which the special counsel’s office provided to the Justice Department on March 22. A lightly-redacted version of the report was released on April 18.
HOW: Mueller has made clear that he did not want to testify before Congress. In a 10-minute press conference on May 29, he said that he considered his report to be his testimony. Attorney General William Barr has also said that he believes it is unnecessary for Mueller to testify publicly.
Nadler and Schiff subpoenaed Mueller on June 25 to force him to appear.