Former special counsel Robert Mueller repeatedly contradicted past statements by President Donald Trump during his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.
Mueller was there to answer lawmakersâ questions about his report, a redacted version of which was released to the public in April.
Here are the key times when his comments contradicted statements that Trump has made about the report and the topics it addressed:
The Russia probe wasnât a âwitch hunt.â
Trump and his allies have repeatedly referred to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as a âwitch hunt.â Mueller on Wednesday flatly denied that characterization.
âIt is not a witch hunt,â Mueller said of his investigation.
Russian election interference was not a âhoax.â
The president has said he believes the notion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election is âall a big hoax.â
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) asked Mueller if he would âagree that it was not a hoax that the Russians were engaged in trying to impact our election.â
âAbsolutely, it was not a hoax,â Mueller said.
Russia meddled in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign was happy with it.
Trump has made an array of shifting statements over the years on whether Russia interfered in the last presidential election at all and, if it did, the extent to which it intended to promote his campaign. The president has on at least a few occasions claimed that Russia wanted Hillary Clinton to win, despite Russian President Vladimir Putinâs direct statements to the contrary.
Mueller on Wednesday confirmed â in a point-by-point exchange with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) â that Russia indeed meddled in the 2016 election and that the Trump campaign appeared to welcome it.
The Mueller report did not find âno obstruction.â
The former special counsel contradicted Trumpâs oft-repeated mantra of âno obstruction,â by which the president implied that the Mueller report had proved he never obstructed justice.
Mueller actually found 10 instances of potential obstruction of justice committed by the president, but he did not make a determination on whether to indict Trump.
In a leading question on Wednesday, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) asked Mueller: âThe report did not conclude that he did not commit obstruction of justice, correct?â
âCorrect,â Mueller said.
The former special counsel also said Trump could, in theory, be charged with obstruction of justice after he departs the White House.
âYou could charge the president of the United States with obstruction of justice after he left office?â Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) asked.
âYes,â Mueller responded.
The Mueller report didnât give Trump âtotal exoneration.â
Trump and his allies have also repeatedly claimed that the report constituted âtotal exonerationâ of the president and his administration.
Nadler on Wednesday asked directly whether the report totally exonerated the president.
âNo,â Mueller said. âIt is not what the report said.â
Trumpâs answers to written questions from Muellerâs team were âgenerallyâ untruthful.
Lawyers for the president said in November 2018 that they had provided the special counselâs office with written responses to its questions. Attorney General William Barr in April of this year claimed that Trump and his administration had âfully cooperatedâ with Muellerâs investigation.
But on Wednesday, Mueller said the answers that Trump provided were both incomplete and âgenerallyâ untruthful.
Mueller did not interview with Trump for the FBI directorâs post.
The president has claimed that Mueller applied to become director of the FBI and was turned down shortly before being appointed special counsel. Trump was apparently trying to suggest that Mueller was therefore biased against him.
Mueller refuted that during his testimony on Wednesday.
âI was asked to give my input on what it would take to do the job, which triggered the interview youâre talking about,â he said in response to a question from Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.). (Mueller had previously served as head of the FBI for 12 years, from 2001 to 2013.)
âI interviewed with the president,â Mueller added, but he noted, âIt was about the job, not me applying for the job.â
Trumpâs praise of WikiLeaksâ publishing hacked emails was âproblematic.â
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) on Wednesday read out several Trump tweets and public statements in praise of WikiLeaks, which published hacked emails that damaged the Clinton campaign in 2016. Among them were comments like: âI love WikiLeaks,â âThis WikiLeaks is like a treasure trove,â and âBoy, I love reading those WikiLeaks.â
In effect, Trump was celebrating the fact that a U.S. presidential campaign had been hacked, likely by a foreign power, Russia, which then passed the information along to WikiLeaks.
ââProblematicâ is an understatement,â Mueller said, adding that Trumpâs statements boost âwhat is and should be illegal activity.â