Special Counsel Robert Mueller is scheduled to testify Wednesday before Congress. First, he’ll speak with the House Judiciary Committee at 8:30 a.m., followed by a hearing with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence at 12:00 p.m. Expect both events to be contentious. Questioning from Democrats will likely highlight alleged wrongdoing by President Donald Trump, while Republicans will also toe their party’s line that he did nothing illegal. Watch the stream’s below:
House Judiciary Committee, 8:30 a.m. ET:
House Intelligence Committee, 12:00 p.m. ET:
You saw a taste of this partisan bickering on Tuesday, with news that Mueller wanted his former FBI chief of staff Aaron Zebley at his side.
After a last minute request from Mueller’s team, Aaron Zebley will sit alongside Mueller at tomorrow’s Judiciary Cmte hearing as his counsel, according to a Judiciary spox. The committee is not updating its guidance to include Zebley as a witness. (W/ @mikememoli)
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) July 23, 2019
The Department of Justice also sought to circumscribe what Mueller could say before Congress. From a letter by Associated Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer:
Finally, any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege, including information protected by law enforcement, deliberative process, attorney work product, and presidential communications privileges. These privileges would include discussion about investigative steps or decisions made during your investigation not otherwise described in the public version of your report. Consistent with standard practice, Department witnesses should decline to address potentially privileged matters, thus affording the Department the full importunity at a later date to consider particular questions and possible accommodations that may fulfill the committees’ legitimate need for information while protecting Executive Branch confidentiality interests.
Matt Naham contributed to this report.
[Image via Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images]
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