The Mueller Hearings in One Sentence or Less [Updated]

 
Mueller mulling pages

Mueller mulling pages

“That’s outside my purview.” —Mueller’s apparent prepared answer to every Republican question pointing out his blatant bias, through selective investigation and selective citation.

Offer your own favorite one-liner, be it gem or cow patty, in the comments. Mueller really does not seem on top of his game.

Here is the Fox Business live stream:

Here is the C-SPAN link for Mueller before the House Judiciary Committee. This is a two ring circus, so C-SPAN will also carry the House Intelligence Committee Mueller show later in the day. C-SPAN not only avoids all the network spin, painted around the sides of the screen, it also quickly produces a transcript, which is usually very close to all the exact words.


[UPDATE]

Shortly after the performance ended, President Trump walked out and addressed the American people through the media:

He is still standing because he fights.

Here is an afternoon roll-up of one sentence summaries, taken from the comments:

Short takes:

“Dave’s not here, man.”
“There was no predicate”.
“James Comey said so.”
“I don’t recall.”
“Can you repeat the question?”
“I don’t want to speculate.”
“Can I have that citation?” (Right after hearing the citation.)
“I can’t answer that.”
“I’m not going to get into that.” (Of course not.)

Longer one sentence summaries:
I’m starting to get the sense that Mueller didn’t write or read his own report, and didn’t write or read his own letters.

Hate to say it, but he seems like a fumbling old man at times.

This might not be the original Mueller but his imperfect duplicate, “Bizarro Mueller.”

What’s clear here is that Robert Mueller was a figurehead.

If it weren’t for his enabling of the dragging of our country through this mess for 2+ years, and presiding over a report with enough ambiguity to allow the dragging to continue, I would feel sorry for him.

Mueller couldn’t orchestrate a witch hunt because Mueller couldn’t orchestrate an Easter egg hunt.

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  1. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio…
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Mueller certainly seemed to be bumbling at certain moments.  I don’t have time to watch the whole thing in order to determine whether these were representative of his testimony, or unflattering out-takes.

    About the “outside my purview” responses and other answers declining to comment, my impression is that most of these were perfectly proper.  The AG’s office sent Mueller a letter (which Mueller apparently requested) about the limited scope of his testimony, in light of executive privilege, ongoing investigations, and court rules limiting a prosecutor’s ability to talk about the investigative and deliberative process.  This all appears quite proper to me, and appears to be a summary of rules that would apply to any prosecutor in any case.

    • #61
  2. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Maybe Comey wanted him because he knew he was senile and could be molded into a figurehead,

    • #62
  3. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Mueller certainly seemed to be bumbling at certain moments. I don’t have time to watch the whole thing in order to determine whether these were representative of his testimony, or unflattering out-takes.

    About the “outside my purview” responses and other answers declining to comment, my impression is that most of these were perfectly proper. The AG’s office sent Mueller a letter (which Mueller apparently requested) about the limited scope of his testimony, in light of executive privilege, ongoing investigations, and court rules limiting a prosecutor’s ability to talk about the investigative and deliberative process. This all appears quite proper to me, and appears to be a summary of rules that would apply to any prosecutor in any case.

    Since Comey was a central figure in the case, both volume 1 and 2, why would Comey’s actions, which would have brought in the Steele Dossier and Fusion GPS, not have been just as central to the Special Counsel’s work as President Trump? There must be a way to look into these facts that is not obstructed by some very useful prosecutorial and investigative policies.

    • #63
  4. Gromrus Member
    Gromrus
    @Gromrus

    Brian Watt (View Comment):

    Jim Jordan is a rock star. His questioning of Mueller on why Misfud wasn’t charged was brilliant. I’m waiting for it to show up on YouTube so I can watch it from time to time when I’m feeling all mopey or out-of-sorts.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd3JnBwc9JE

     

    • #64
  5. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    This was sad. It would be of interest to know what is behind Robert Mueller’s especially poor performance in the hearing. Was that a man whose performance capability has been severely diminished by age, was he simply not involved in any of the details of the investigation, or some combination of those two things. The ongoing investigations initiated by Attorney General Barr, particularly examining the details of how and why the special counsel investigation was initiated, will yield these answers. At least, that is my hope.

    Barr had better hurry. 2020 is coming around soon enough.

    • #65
  6. Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… Coolidge
    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo…
    @GumbyMark

    Ed G. (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    This was sad. It would be of interest to know what is behind Robert Mueller’s especially poor performance in the hearing. Was that a man whose performance capability has been severely diminished by age, was he simply not involved in any of the details of the investigation, or some combination of those two things. The ongoing investigations initiated by Attorney General Barr, particularly examining the details of how and why the special counsel investigation was initiated, will yield these answers. At least, that is my hope.

    Barr had better hurry. 2020 is coming around soon enough.

    Yes, if this is not wrapped up by election time and Trump loses, everything questionable about this entire episode will disappear like it never happened.  Though, no doubt, we would at least have Andrew Weissman’s book boasting about how they pulled it off, which will be much praised in the media.

    • #66
  7. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    And after all this supposed “disaster” for the Democrats, they are still swearing up and down that there WAS, indeed, “obstruction”, and “this president” is going to be “held to account” for all his high crimes and misdemeanors.  They will pursue this line of thinking for as long as President Trump remains in office, and more afterward.  This is thoroughly disgusting behavior.

    • #67
  8. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    DrewInWisconsin (View Comment):
    This hearing is making me hate Democrats more than I thought possible.

    It’s getting more and more difficult. I try like heck to fight it since two of my closest friends are Dems. WE absolutely cannot discuss politics as they think I’m crazy for supporting the president. 

    • #68
  9. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    I had to look up the meaning of purview…..I’m not sure what exactly what was in Mueller’s purview….

    • #69
  10. EDISONPARKS Member
    EDISONPARKS
    @user_54742

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):

    I had to look up the meaning of purview…..I’m not sure what exactly what was in Mueller’s purview….

    You may find in right next to bailiwick found in the Book of Words Grampa Used to Say.

    • #70
  11. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    Ed G. (View Comment):

    Does anyone else get the impression that the Dems are far more coordinated and focused in making a comprehensive case? I understand that there are so many threads for the Republicans to chase down while the Dems really only have one bone to gnaw on. It just seems like our guys could have done better in preparation to distill the main points and to anticipate Mueller’s responses and to game plan lines of questioning to nail him down.

    They’re doing five points on obstruction from volume 2 in this hearing. Expect the other five this afternoon.

    If Ronald Reagan’s ghost could have showed up, I could just hear him making chopped liver of the Dems by using his succinct repartee “There you go again!”

    • #71
  12. CarolJoy, Above Top Secret Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Above Top Secret
    @CarolJoy

    RushBabe49 (View Comment):

    And after all this supposed “disaster” for the Democrats, they are still swearing up and down that there WAS, indeed, “obstruction”, and “this president” is going to be “held to account” for all his high crimes and misdemeanors. They will pursue this line of thinking for as long as President Trump remains in office, and more afterward. This is thoroughly disgusting behavior.

    Of course the Republicans have done the same to Hilary, except that she actually deserved that treatment.

    • #72
  13. WillowSpring Member
    WillowSpring
    @WillowSpring

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):
    I had to look up the meaning of purview…..I’m not sure what exactly what was in Mueller’s purview….

    Anything that could bring down Trump:

    • #73
  14. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Gromrus (View Comment):

    Brian Watt (View Comment):

    Jim Jordan is a rock star. His questioning of Mueller on why Misfud wasn’t charged was brilliant. I’m waiting for it to show up on YouTube so I can watch it from time to time when I’m feeling all mopey or out-of-sorts.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd3JnBwc9JE

     

    That YouTube is followed by at least an hour’s worth of interesting clips from that day. What is interesting is going back and listening to Gowdy vs Strzok , especially at the end where Strzok makes an empassioned and now debunked claim that the FBI did not interfere in the election. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NN1d6_h9skc

    • #74
  15. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Gromrus (View Comment):

    Brian Watt (View Comment):

    Jim Jordan is a rock star. His questioning of Mueller on why Misfud wasn’t charged was brilliant. I’m waiting for it to show up on YouTube so I can watch it from time to time when I’m feeling all mopey or out-of-sorts.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd3JnBwc9JE

     

    That YouTube is followed by at least an hour’s worth of interesting clips from that day. What is interesting is going back and listening to Gowdy vs Strzok , especially at the end where Strzok makes an empassioned and now debunked claim that the FBI did not interfere in the election. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NN1d6_h9skc

    I would rather have the FBI, an actual permanent agency of government with a responsibility for counter-intelligence operations, explain how the DNC database intrusion investigation, if deemed election interference, was left to a private contractor. I hope AG Barr gets to the bottom of that apparent malfeasance.

    • #75
  16. Boss Mongo Member
    Boss Mongo
    @BossMongo

    Jim Jordan was an NCAA wrestling champ (note his bulked up right ear when he speaks; you don’t get that kind of cauliflower from eating fractal salads).  He worked over Mueller like some cherry that’s never been on the mats before and is trying to fish out.

    Question:  All my news pipelines are from ostensibly conservative sources.  Are there any “victory” mashup videos from the left over Mueller’s testimony that I just haven’t seen?  Or are they all “move along citizen, nothing to see here?”

    • #76
  17. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Boss Mongo (View Comment):
    Are there any “victory” mashup videos from the left over Mueller’s testimony that I just haven’t seen?

    • #77
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