Mueller 'generally' agrees that Trump officials' lies impeded his investigation

(Image credit: Jonathan Ernst - Pool/Getty Images)

published 24 July 2019

For the first several hours of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's testimony before Congress on Wednesday, the script mostly played out as expected.

Mueller adhered to his previous statements that the report was his testimony, which added little in the way of new information. However, he did tell Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) that he would "generally agree" with the sentiment that lies by President Trump's campaign and administration officials impeded his office's investigation into 2016 Russian election interference.

Mueller also said there is probably a "spectrum of witnesses" who fell somewhere between not telling the full truth and outright lying. He agreed with Demings' assessment that these possible lies placed limits on his investigation, saying that that's "usually the case."

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However, earlier in the hearing, Mueller was asked by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) if his investigation was ever "curtailed or stopped or hindered," to which Mueller replied that it wasn't. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.