Robert Mueller Testimony before House Judiciary Committee

"Is it fair to say that Donald Trump viewed the Special Counsel's investigation into his conduct as adverse to his own interest?"

"...1,000 former Republican and Democratic federal prosecutors have read your report and said, anyone but the President who committed those acts would be charged with obstruction of justice. ..."

"Your investigation also found... "by the time of the Oval Office meeting with the President, the President was aware [1] that McGahn did not think the story was false and [2, that McGahn] did not want to issue a statement or create a written record denying facts that McGahn believed to be true. The President nevertheless persisted and asked McGahn to repudiate facts that McGahn had repeatedly said were accurate." ...that's on page 119 ...In other words, the President was trying to force McGahn to say something that McGahn did not believe to be true."

"Upon learning about the appointment of the Special Counsel, your investigation found that Donald Trump stated to the then Attorney General... "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm f'ed." Is that correct?"

"And at this time, Mr. Sessions was still recused from oversight of your investigation. ...The attorney general was recused from oversight."

"....page ...97 ..."Substantial evidence indicates that the President's effort to have Sessions limit the scope of the special counsel's investigation to future elections interference was intended to prevent further investigative scrutiny of the President and his campaign conduct." Is that correct?"

"And you found... "The President said he wanted McGahn to write a letter to the file for our records." Correct?"

"[I]t's accurate to say that the President knew that he was asking McGahn to deny facts that McGahn... "had repeatedly said were accurate"... Isn't that right?"

"Your investigation found evidence that President Trump took steps to terminate the special counsel. Correct?"

"Corrupt intent exists if the President acted to obstruct an official preceding for the improper purpose of protecting his own interest. Correct?"

"Your report describes an incident in the Oval Office involving Mr. Lewandowski on June 19, 2017... Volume 2 page 91... And that was just two days after the President called Don McGahn at home and ordered him to fire you. ..."

"In other words, Mr. Lewandowski, a private citizen, was instructed by the President of the United States to deliver a message from the President to the Attorney General, that directed him to limit your investigation. Correct?"

"And Mr. Lewandowski tried to meet with the attorney general. ...in his office so he would be... certain there wasn't a public log of the visit?"

"So... two days after the White House Counsel Don McGahn refused to carry out the President's order to fire you, the President directed a private citizen to tell the Attorney General of the United States—who was recused at the time—to limit your investigation to future elections, effectively ending your investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign. Is that correct?"

"[P]age 114... [The following day,] "On January 26th, 2018, the President's personal counsel called McGahn's attorney and said that the President wanted McGahn to put out a statement denying that he had been asked to fire the special counsel"... Communicating through his personal attorney, McGahn refused, because he said... "That the Times story was accurate in reporting that the President wanted the special counsel removed." Isn't that right?"

"[P]age 113... "The President then directed Porter to tell McGahn to create a record to make it clear that the President never directed McGahn to fire you"... Is that correct?"

"[D]idn't the President say [to Porter, speaking about McGahn]... on page 116... "If he doesn't write a letter, then maybe I'll have to get rid of him" ..?"

"[T]hank you for your investigation uncovering this very disturbing evidence. ...[I]t is clear to me, if anyone else had ordered a witness to create a false record and cover up acts that are subject of a law enforcement investigation, that person would be facing criminal charges."

"[T]he President's attempt to get McGahn to create a false-written record, were related to Mr. Trump's concerns about your obstruction of justice inquiry, correct?"

"The crime of obstruction of justice has three elements... The first element is an obstructive act. ...An obstructive act could include taking an action that would delay or interfere with an ongoing investigation... True? ..."

"One day later on Saturday, June 17, President Trump called White House counsel Don McGahn at home, and directed him to fire the special counsel. True?"

"The third element—second element having just been satisfied— ...of the crime of obstruction of justice, is corrupt intent. True?"

"The investigation found substantial evidence that when the President ordered Don McGahn to fire the special counsel, and then lie about it, Donald Trump 1) committed an obstructive act, 2) connected to an official proceeding, 3) did so with corrupt intent. Those are the elements of obstruction of justice. ...The President must be held accountable, one way or the other."

"My colleagues have walked through how the President tried to have you fired through the White House Council, and because Mr. McGahn refused the order, the President asked others to help limit your investigation, is that correct?"

"So right after his White House Council Mr. McGahn refused to follow the President's order to fire you, the President came up with a new plan. And that was to go around all of his senior advisors and government aids, to have a private citizen try to limit your investigation. What did the President tell Mr. Lewandowski to do? Do you recall? He called him, he dictated a message to Mr. Lewandowski for Attorney General Sessions, and asked him to write it down, is that correct?"

"The message directed Sessions to give... a public speech saying that he planned to "meet with the Special Prosecutor to explain this is very unfair and let the Special Prosecutor move forward with investigating election meddling for future elections." ...page 91 [Vol. II]. Is that correct?"

"So the Attorney General had to violate his own Department's rules in order to comply with the President's order... And if the Attorney General had followed through with the President's request... it would have effectively ended your investigation into the President and his campaign ...page 97. ..."Taken together, the President's directives indicate that Sessions was being instructed to tell the Special Counsel to end the existing investigation into the President and his campaign, with the Special Counsel being permitted to 'move forward with investigating election meddling for future elections.' " Is that correct?"

"And... , is that correct?"

"And the meeting never happened. And the President raised the issue again with Mr. Lewandowski and... said...[page 93] "If Sessions does not meet with you, Lewandowski should tell Sessions he was fired" correct?"

"So immediately following the meeting with the President, Lewandowski then asked Mr. Dearborn to deliver the message, who's the former chief of staff to Mr. Sessions. And Mr. Dearborn refuses to deliver it, because he doesn't feel comfortable. Isn't that correct?"

"In fact [after the news broke, the President was televised as denying the story, where] the President said... "Fake news, folks. Fake news, a typical New York Times fake story"... Correct?"

"But your investigation... found substantial evidence that McGahn was ordered by the President to fire you. Correct?"

"Mr. McGahn, through his personal attorney, told the President that he... was not going to lie. Is that right?"

"Next, the President told the White House Staff Secretary to try to pressure McGahn to make a false denial. Is that correct?"

"[T]he President is asking his White House Counsel Don McGahn to create a record that McGahn believed to be untrue, while you were in the midst of investigating the President for obstruction of justice. Correct?"

"Mr. McGahn was an important witness in that investigation, wasn't he?"

"[P]age 116... the President met him [McGahn] in the Oval Office... "The President began the Oval Office meeting by telling McGahn that The New York Times story didn't look good and McGahn needed to correct it." Is that correct?"

"The President asked McGahn whether he would do a correction and McGahn said no. Correct?"

"[R]eference... a slide... [Vol. II] on page 120... "Substantial evidence indicates that in repeatedly urging McGahn to dispute that he was ordered to have the Special Counsel terminated, the President acted for the purpose of influencing McGahn's account in order to deflect or prevent further scrutiny of the President's conduct towards the investigation.""

"So it's fair to say the President tried to protect himself by asking staff to falsify records relevant to an ongoing investigation?"

"[T]hank you... for your investigation into whether the President attempted to obstruct justice by ordering his White House Counsel, Don McGahn, to lie to protect the President, and then to create a false record about it. It is clear that any other person who engaged in such conduct would be charged with a crime. ...[W]e will hold the President accountable ..."

"[O]bstruction of justice is a serious crime that strikes at the core of an investigator's effort to find the truth. Correct?"

"[D]oes ordering the termination of the head of a criminal investigation constitute an obstructive act? ...Let me refer you to page 87 and 88 of Volume 2 where you conclude "The attempt to remove the special counsel would qualify as an obstructive act if it would naturally obstruct the investigation in any grand jury proceedings that might flow from the inquiry." Correct?"

"The second element of obstruction of justice is the presence of an obstructive act in connection with an official proceeding. ...President Trump tweeted on June 16, 2017... "I am being investigated for firing the FBI director... Witch hunt." The... tweet just read... page 89 in Volume 2 constitutes a public acknowledgement by President Trump that he was under criminal investigation. Correct?"

"President Trump told Don McGahn... "Mueller has to go"... Correct?"

"Your report found on page 89, Volume 2 that substantial evidence indicates that by June 17 the President knew his conduct was under investigation by a federal prosecutor, who could present any evidence of federal crimes to a grand jury. True?"

"The investigation found evidence... "that the President knew that he should not have directed Don McGahn to fire the Special Counsel." ...Page 90, Volume 2, "There's evidence that the President knew he should not have made those calls to McGahn"..."

"The investigation also found substantial evidence that President Trump repeatedly urged McGahn to dispute that he was ordered to have the Special Counsel terminated, correct?"

"[W]e are specifically focusing on five separate obstruction episodes here today. I'd like to ask you about the third... the section of your report entitled "The President's Efforts to Curtail the Special Counsel Investigation" beginning at page 90. And by "curtail" you mean limit, correct?"

"[G]oing back to the President's obstruction via , it was referenced that a thousand former prosecutors who served under Republican and Democratic administrations with 12,000 years of federal service wrote a letter regarding the President's conduct. Are you familiar with that letter?"