Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call(WASHINGTON) — Former special counsel Robert Mueller will appear on Capitol Hill Wednesday to testify before lawmakers in back-to-back House hearings on his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Democrats on the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committee labored for months to bring Mueller before Congress to answer lingering questions about his 22-month investigation.
Mueller was reluctant to appear before Congress, and only agreed to appear under subpoena from both panels.
“The report is my testimony,” he said in his only public statement on the report in May.
He will first testify before the Judiciary Committee, beginning at 8:30 a.m., for three hours, before fielding questions from the House Intelligence Committee for two hours. The first hearing will focus on Volume II of the Mueller report, which detailed 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump. The second hearing will center on Volume I of the report, which focused on Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 White House race.
Lawmakers have spent weeks preparing for the hearings, and continued to prepare for the back-to-back rounds of questioning well into Tuesday evening, fielding a last-minute request from Mueller that Aaron Zebley, his longtime chief of staff, be sworn in to appear alongside him in front of the committees. A committee spokesman said Zebley would appear with Mueller on Wednesday as his counsel.
Democrats and Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have each held mock hearings, with committee staffers playing the role of Mueller. The former special counsel has prepared with a cadre of longtime aides at the WilmerHale law firm, where he worked before accepting the special counsel appointment.
Trump has attacked Mueller ahead of the hearing, and said he may “see a little bit of it” on television.
On Monday, the Justice Department attempted to limit elements of Mueller’s testimony, saying in a letter to the former special counsel that he “must remain within the boundaries” of the public report on his investigation.
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