House Plans First Hearing on Mueller's Findings – Without Mueller

WASHINGTON – Democrats in the House, seeking ways to bring the special council report to life, announced Monday that they would convene a series of hearings on the findings of Robert S. Mueller III, even though the special counsel himself would not be on the witness stand. for the moment.

The first star witness will indeed come from another era and from another presidential scandal: John W. Dean, White House lawyer Richard M. Nixon, who told the Senate in June 1973 that the president had been directly involved in the cover of the Watergate. up.

The hearing, scheduled for June 10 in the House Judiciary Committee, is not exactly the model the Democrats hoped for, but will allow legislators from the traditionally impeachment group to fully articulate the council's findings. special, Mr. Mueller, for the first time. The Trump administration has blocked Democrats' demands for key witnesses to testify in the Mueller investigation, and Mueller himself has not yet agreed to appear on Capitol Hill, despite the fact that he had made a rare public statement last week.

Commission Chairman Jerrold Nadler, representing New York, said the session entitled "Lessons Learned from the Mueller Report: Presidential Obstruction and Other Crimes" would focus on "the most overt obstructive acts" described by Mr. Mueller. The 448-page Special Attorney's Report described at least 10 cases of possible obstruction of President Trump while he was trying to prevent investigators from studying his campaign's links. with Russia and its efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

"While the White House continues to hide and block, and prevent the American people from knowing the truth, we will continue our investigation," Nadler said in a statement. "These hearings will allow us to examine the findings of the Mueller report in order to protect the rule of law and future elections by taking into consideration legislative and other solutions".

In addition to Mr. Dean, who has often appeared on cable television to warn that Mr. Trump's behavior was worse than Nixon's, other witnesses will include former US lawyers and other legal experts. Mr. Nadler said that other hearings on related topics would follow in the coming weeks, but he did not propose a date.

The committee already has subpoenas pending for the testimony of two other key witnesses later this month. But none of the witnesses – Hope Hicks, former director of communications at the White House, or Annie Donaldson, chief of staff of the former White House lawyer – will likely show nothing. Donaldson's chief, Donald F. McGahn II, whose detailed testimony to Mr. Mueller about Mr. Trump's conduct made comparisons with Mr. Dean, has already challenged a subpoena and refused to speak.

The new audiences come as Democrats are fighting to bring Mueller's dense relationship to American voters alive. In the weeks following the first public release of the report, the House is bogged down in a series of bitter arguments with the White House and the Department of Justice over documents and witnesses who have obscured the findings. .

Almost all Democratic lawmakers agree that this has to change, but they do not know how to bring Mr. Mueller to television cameras. A growing number of party officials, of which more than 50 members of the House, have approved the opening of an imputation investigation in order to raise the problems of permanent obstruction of justice and investigation of crimes. ;abuse of power. But President Nancy Pelosi and her leadership remain fiercely opposed to this idea unless the Democrats can convince the American public.