# Special Counsel Robert Mueller testifies before Congress **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 24, 2019, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542 "2019-07-24T12:33:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/21 "2019-07-24T13:32:55Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > What’s the D strategy here? They just seem to want Mueller on record reiterating their talking points about the report. Is there no avenue for uncovering new information? > > … Considering that there are Republican congresspeople proud to have not read the report, and Faux news zombies under the influence of misinformation, stating the truth on television has become an unfortunate necessity. If members of congress refuse to read the report, this will have to do. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/22 "2019-07-24T13:33:14Z")
Kyle Griffin, MSNBC producer, also with live updates: [https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1](https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/23 "2019-07-24T13:40:54Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Yes, I’m sure lots of minds will be changed with that strategy. All those fence-sitters and ball-washers out there. There are millions of people who literally get their news from nothing but video sources - FB, TV, etc. There has been no video source of Mueller saying he did not exonerate the President, only “Democrats” have appeared on video and said that. This solves that problem. And as to why that is a problem, well, that’s beyond the scope of this thread. But this matters for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/24 "2019-07-24T13:41:54Z")
It’s Louie Gohmert time! And it’s just as stupid as we should expect… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/25 "2019-07-24T13:46:51Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Yes, I’m sure lots of minds will be changed with that strategy. All those fence-sitters and ball-washers out there. I’ll reiterate that I think the key audience here are the 143 House Democrats who have not yet endorsed an impeachment inquiry. Most of them are on the fence, or have simply been trying to avoid dealing with the subject. If this gives a bunch of them enough reason to come out and join the 92 House Dems who’ve already come out in favor of an impeachment inquiry, then we may actually get a vote on having an impeachment inquiry. It would be hard for Pelosi to stare down the majority of her caucus. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/26 "2019-07-24T13:49:52Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > It’s not about fence-sitters and ball-washers, it’s about people who pay little attention to politics and know nothing about what Mueller said in the report. This is more likely to reach them than just relying on the report. And I think there’s a lot of such folks. Even if this only sways a tiny percentage of them, that could be enormously political valuable. > [@bobot](#): > > Considering that there are Republican congresspeople proud to have not read the report, and Faux news zombies under the influence of misinformation, stating the truth on television has become an unfortunate necessity. If members of congress refuse to read the report, this will have to do. > [@JohnT](#): > > There are millions of people who literally get their news from nothing but video sources - FB, TV, etc. There has been no video source of Mueller saying he did not exonerate the President, only “Democrats” have appeared on video and said that. > > This solves that problem. > > And as to why that is a problem, well, that’s beyond the scope of this thread. But this matters for that reason. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’ll reiterate that I think the key audience here are the 143 House Democrats who have not yet endorsed an impeachment inquiry. Most of them are on the fence, or have simply been trying to avoid dealing with the subject. > > If this gives a bunch of them enough reason to come out and join the 92 House Dems who’ve already come out in favor of an impeachment inquiry, then we may actually get a vote on having an impeachment inquiry. It would be hard for Pelosi to stare down the majority of her caucus. I gotta say, if the D strategy is really just to get sound bites of Mueller confirming parts of the report, this is going to be real disappointing for Democrats. IMHO. I don’t think it’s going to have the effect on public opinion any of you are suggesting. Over on 538 there’s some discussion that ignoring questions and just grandstanding for 5 minutes might be a better strategy. I’m starting to agree with that. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/27 "2019-07-24T13:50:21Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’ll reiterate that I think the key audience here are the 143 House Democrats who have not yet endorsed an impeachment inquiry. Most of them are on the fence, or have simply been trying to avoid dealing with the subject. > > If this gives a bunch of them enough reason to come out and join the 92 House Dems who’ve already come out in favor of an impeachment inquiry, then we may actually get a vote on having an impeachment inquiry. It would be hard for Pelosi to stare down the majority of her caucus. …and then it will go to the Senate and be defeated and thump can claim a WIN! This is not the time-- yet. The time will come. To do it prematurely would be a big mistake. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/28 "2019-07-24T13:51:02Z")
I suspect Democrats are doing the only thing here that could possibly be beneficial – get Mueller to reiterate and highlight the most damning parts of the report. He’s just not going to cooperate with anything else. > [@steronz](#): > > I gotta say, if the D strategy is really just to get sound bites of Mueller confirming parts of the report, this is going to be real disappointing for Democrats. IMHO. I don’t think it’s going to have the effect on public opinion any of you are suggesting. > > Over on 538 there’s some discussion that ignoring questions and just grandstanding for 5 minutes might be a better strategy. I’m starting to agree with that. I think grandstanding would be pointless, and just look mostly silly. I think this is about the only possible thing they can do. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/29 "2019-07-24T13:52:07Z")
Memorable shot. THIS is why this needs to be televised. [![](https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/digital-images/org/061b57db-3162-4f6a-a270-a65610f4ca3e.jpg) ](https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/digital-images/org/061b57db-3162-4f6a-a270-a65610f4ca3e.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/30 "2019-07-24T14:00:00Z")
Getting these solid, short, factual sound bites straight from the horse’s mouth makes it more difficult for Trump, Fox&Friends, and Republican cronies to spin the false narratives they have about what the report did and didn’t conclude. It shoots down all kinds of claims they’ve made over the past months. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/31 "2019-07-24T14:02:20Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Getting these solid, short, factual sound bites straight from the horse’s mouth makes it more difficult for Trump, Fox&Friends, and Republican cronies to spin the false narratives they have about what the report did and didn’t conclude. > It shoots down all kinds of claims they’ve made over the past months. Exactly. Because it’s on TV, and will undoubtedly be edited into sound-bite form for the most damning stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/32 "2019-07-24T14:03:34Z")
Jim Jordan is an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/33 "2019-07-24T14:03:46Z")
Mueller also directly refutes Trump’s assertion that Mueller spoke to Trump about possibly becoming FBI director. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/34 "2019-07-24T14:04:58Z")
Mueller is a textbook lesson in how not to take the bait. He will not be tricked into saying anything he doesn’t want to say. All the “I stand by my report” and “Outside my purview” replies are annoying some people, but I say, “Bravo!” Keep control of your side of the testimony. Also, making the questioner repeat the question-- brilliant. Keep control of the tempo, too. They’re trying to trip him up, and he’s not having any of it. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/35 "2019-07-24T14:05:16Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Jim Jordan is an idiot. Is he contradicting the R position that the investigation was started by the “phony dossier”? Seems like it. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/36 "2019-07-24T14:06:03Z")
One thing I’m getting from listening so far is that even Robert Mueller hasn’t read the entire Mueller report. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/37 "2019-07-24T14:08:28Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > I gotta say, if the D strategy is really just to get sound bites of Mueller confirming parts of the report, this is going to be real disappointing for Democrats. I don’t hold out high hopes that these hearings will change things very much. But there are people out there who literally do not even know that the report didn’t exonerate the President, and who literally don’t know that there are places where it suggests things like obstruction of justice. I saw an interview with a woman at a Republican gathering of some sort, who got all her information about the report from FOX News, and she was surprised to learn these things from the interviewer. It wasn’t like she had heard the negative stuff and rejected it; she literally had not heard these things before. I’m optimistic enough to believe that some people who get their information only from conservative news sites are, under the right circumstances, willing to adjust their assessments in the light of new information. And if the only way to get them the information about the report is for them to see Mueller himself talking about it on TV, then maybe these hearings will have done some good. Of course, those same conservative news sources are probably only going to play footage that fits with their preordained narrative, so maybe nothing will change at all. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/38 "2019-07-24T14:08:33Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > One thing I’m getting from listening so far is that even Robert Mueller hasn’t read the entire Mueller report. My God. Do you expect him to have every statement in the report at his fingertips?? Besides, asking for the cite, and giving people time to look it up, instead of answering from the hip, makes perfect sense. I’m positive that he has read every word of this report several times. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/39 "2019-07-24T14:11:53Z")
Over on the Fox news website, the main headline is “Flustered Mueller asks for questions to be repeated, blanks on Fusion GPS in contentious hearing”. We know how the right will be painting this picture. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542/40 "2019-07-24T14:15:48Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > But there are people out there who literally do not even know that the report didn’t exonerate the President, and who literally don’t know that there are places where it suggests things like obstruction of justice. I saw an interview with a woman at a Republican gathering of some sort, who got all her information about the report from FOX News, and she was surprised to learn these things from the interviewer. It wasn’t like she had heard the negative stuff and rejected it; she literally had not heard these things before. I’m pessimistic enough to believe that the next time she’s told about it, she still won’t have heard it before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-counsel-robert-mueller-testifies-before-congress/837542.md?page=3)