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The badertion of President Donald Trump that he was "totally exonerated" by the special advocate Robert Mueller was rejected by his testimony.
In his testimony before Congress, Mr. Mueller stated that he had not exonerated the president from obstructing justice.
During a long and slow hearing, Mr. Mueller has repeatedly refused to stray out of bounds of his report.
The Republicans attacked him, saying the president had not benefited from the presumption of innocence.
Mr. Mueller, who rarely appeared in public during his two years of investigating the president and who issued statements even more rarely, generally gave broken answers or referred members of the committee to his report.
He sometimes seemed to have trouble following the proceedings, committee members focusing on complicated episodes detailed in his team's 448-page report.
In total, 35 people and three companies were indicted by the special council for matters directly and indirectly related to alleged interference by Russia in the 2016 election. No members of the Trump family have been indicted.
At the beginning of the session, in response to questions from Democratic Committee chairman Jerold Nadler, Mr. Mueller confirmed that President Trump was wrong to claim that he had been "exonerated" by the special council.
Mr. Mueller also confirmed that the team of special legal advisers had found evidence that the Russian government had tried to interfere in the US elections of 2016 and that it was the only way in had done in the interest of Mr. Trump, then candidate.
"During my career, our democracy has faced many challenges, and the Russian government's efforts to interfere in our elections are among the most serious," he said.
The new revelations were not revealed either by the rejection of Mr Trump's request for exemption or by the confirmation of Russian efforts to the advantage of Mr Trump, but the power to have them declared under oath by Mr. Mueller represented the first successes of the members of the Democratic Committee.
During the interrogation, Mr. Mueller seemed uncomfortable to find himself in the midst of a partisan political battle between Democratic and Republican deputies – a situation that he had clearly explained. that he wanted to avoid.
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Republican members have attacked the decision of the former special council not to accuse or exonerate the president of obstructing justice. Congressman John Ratcliffe stated that the decision imposed on the Speaker a different legal standard from that of the established presumption of innocence.
Mr. Ratcliffe said it was appropriate that the president should not be above the law, "but it should absolutely not be below the law, as stipulated in volume two of this report."
Mr. Mueller began to respond that the investigation into the president was a "unique situation" but had been interrupted by Mr. Ratcliffe. The report of the special advocate indicates that there is a unique set of circumstances because the directives issued by the Legal Counsel Office of the Ministry of Justice stipulate that a president in office can not be put in accusation.
Ted Lieu, Democratic Congressman from California, asked Mr. Mueller: "The reason you did not charge the president, is because of the CLO's directives that forbid him from doing so." to charge a president in office, is not it?
Mr. Mueller replied, "OK."
This seems to go further than previous statements in which the board of the special council had only stated that it had not found the guilt of the president, and that this remark might have been erroneous on the part from Mr. Mueller.
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The Democratic members of the committee focused on the detail of some of the 10 occasions identified by the special council as cases in which the president could have obstructed justice. In particular, they focused on the president's alleged attempt to fired Mr. Mueller.
Don McGahn, President Trump's lawyer at the White House, gave extensive testimony as part of the investigation by the special advocate, telling the team of Mr. Mueller under oath that the president had asked him to dismiss the special advocate, but had retreated after refusing.
In May, the New York Times reported that White House officials had then asked Mr. McGahn, at least twice, to publicly declare that he had never believed that the President had hobbled the trial of justice.
For the president's critics, the McGahn episode represents the clearest and most damning case against the president for obstructing justice.
Mr. Mueller confirmed that the Special Council Office had requested an interview with the President, but that it had been denied. No member of the committee asked why a subpoena had not been given to the president.
Mr. Mueller also denied a repeated allegation by President Trump that he had been questioned by the president for the role of director of the FBI, a position he had held for 12 years the day before his appointment to the position of special advocate. Mr. Mueller stated that he had discussed recruitment for the position with the president, but that he was not a candidate.
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