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President Trump's close advisers are increasingly urging Robert Mueller to be dragged before Congress and questioned the Conservative legislator about the progress and results of his investigation.
Their adherence to such a hearing is a radical departure from the White House sentiment for weeks after the release of the special council report. Trump himself went out against Mueller testifying before Congress and Capitol Hill's leading Republicans have followed suit by stating that the problem is indeed "closed."
But these positions were significantly eased, even altered, after Mueller's public statement Wednesday in which he declared that he would have exonerated Trump when he could and that he was banned by the Department of Justice's direction to lay charges against a sitting president. .
"If they allow [GOP Reps.] Meadows and Jordan and some of the others out there, they will gut him more than Michael Cohen, "said Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal attorney during and after Mueller's investigation.Giuliani said he would be "emotionally satisfying" to have Mueller testify and that "politically, I would very much like to have him testify. I think he's scared of it.
The former New York mayor and Trump's lawyer said he had spoken with the president before and after Mueller's televised statement to the press. Asked to describe Trump's point of view, Giuliani told the Daily Beast that he could only say: "I can summarize his feelings in the following way: nothing new, no new facts, it's all right. is smoke and mirrors, so what? ", he added. : "I'm more angry about this than [Trump] is."
Mueller's announcement Wednesday was a dramatic coda for a two-year investigation during which he never spoke in public. During his appearance before the Department of Justice, he declared that he officially terminated his service as a special advocate, and then summarized the main conclusions of his report. After a little over nine minutes, Mueller expressed his desire not to testify in front of Congress and refused to answer journalists' questions.
"The report is my testimony," he explained.
The citizens of Trumpworld were furious with the appearance, convinced that Mueller had taken the opportunity to question Trump's innocence without having to insist on how he had reached his conclusions. On his show later in the evening, Fox News host Sean Hannity fantasized that lawmakers lined up on Trump were swearing Mueller under oath.
"If you wonder if Mueller is open to transparency [and] responsibility in this deeply flawed investigation, think again, "said Hannity." Oh, Bob Mueller does not want to answer the questions [from] Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows, Matt Gaetz and other Republicans. "
Hannity is a close friend and advisor to Trump, and his broadcasts are often used to indicate where the President's spirit is.
Giuliani said he would like Republican lawmakers to discuss with Mueller issues such as whether his team would have leaked damaging information to journalists and how former Trump campaign president Paul Manafort would have been treated in solitary confinement. Other notable allies of Trump said that they agreed with the idea that Mueller was to be called before lawmakers, if only to give Republicans the right to do so. opportunity to speak on topics such as the composition of his team of investigators and the evidence of his investigation.
"[The Mueller Report was] One of the most dishonest reports ever made, and I think Republicans could disassemble it after a review, "Thursday told the Daily Beast John Dowd, attorney general's attorney to President Mueller. "[Bob Mueller] do not want to go. Dowd, who still informally advises Trump and his legal team, added that it would be "great to put it up there" so GOP lawmakers can "disassemble" it.
"I think it would be really wonderful if Bob Mueller were to testify. I hope he's doing it. I hope that he will have a respirator with him when he does."
– Joseph dGenova, informal legal adviser to President Trump
Joseph DiGenova, the president's informal legal adviser, echoed these sentiments. "I think it would be really wonderful if Bob Mueller were to testify. I hope he's doing it. I hope he'll have a respirator with him when he does, "he said in a brief interview. "I think he's got many legitimate questions to ask him, considering the damage he's caused by letting the investigation go on for two years." DiGenova said that he had a list of questions for Mueller that he "had already provided to people", but would not clarify whether he had shared this list with Trump or with another member of the administration or Congress.
When asked to comment on this story, a White House spokesman cited President The Daily Beast's earlier statements about how Attorney General William Barr should decide whether Mueller should testify.
Although Trump's advisers are increasingly eager to have Mueller appear before legislators, not all Republicans, including many of these lawmakers, agree.
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and current Trump External Advisor, told the Daily Beast that the best decision for Republicans in Congress would be to use the investigative powers they had to focus on the origins of the Counter-intelligence operation in the Trump campaign. preceded by the appointment of Mueller as special counsel. As such, he said, Senate Republicans, who are in the majority, would be well advised to call former officials of the Obama administration as well as the former director of the FBI , James Comey. According to Gingrich, Mueller would be a "dead end".
"I think Mueller is smart enough not to be a helpful witness. And I do not think that leads you to anything, "said Gingrich. "Mueller is a door that leads nowhere because nothing you learn will count."
If the Republicans tried to force Mueller to testify, it would have to be in the Senate, where the party still has power over committee schedules. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chair of the Judiciary Committee, had previously offered Mueller the opportunity to testify, but has since insisted that she felt the case was closed.
Asked Wednesday on the attenuation of the position of the senator, Graham's spokesman, Kevin Bishop, stressed Mueller's request not to go to the hill. AsIf the senator contemplated a subpoena, Bishop noted that it would be "against [Mueller’s] wishes."
The place most likely to compel Mueller to testify remains in the House, where the Democrats have been trying to negotiate a hearing for weeks. But these discussions got bogged down, first after the Justice Department did not agree to a date, and then when Mueller privately voiced fears that any testimony would become a political circus. Since then, the leadership has had the idea to assign Mueller and hinted that they might well do so despite his request not to testify.
House Republicans have been divided on having Mueller testify. Representative Doug Collins (R-GA), a prominent member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued a statement Wednesday that Mueller would not be going to the Hill. But the mood of Thursday seemed to change. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) confirmed to the Daily Beast that he wanted Mueller to be questioned before Congress. And a senior GOP assistant said that other members had begun to prepare for the idea of swearing in the former special advisor.
"I think people are shocked by the way Mueller handled the situation from the moment he publishes the report: the fact that he did not reach a decision of the prosecutor and that he did not do not answer the questions, "said the assistant. "My feeling is that some members want to get more from him in this regard."
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