Russell Berman writes:

Democrats can’t say Robert Mueller didn’t warn them.

For months, the former special counsel told them in every way he could—in private negotiations, in his sole public statement on his investigation, through letters from the Justice Department—that he did not want to testify before Congress, and that if he did, his appearance would be a dud.

Today, Mueller fully delivered on that promise.

Over the course of more than six hours of testimony before two House committees, Mueller sidestepped, ducked, deflected, and generally frustrated lawmakers of both parties, but especially Democrats who were looking to his long-awaited appearance as their last, best chance to build a case against President Donald Trump. He deferred to his 448-page report; he refused to speculate; he declined to discuss, opine, or “get into that”; he told them, again and again and again, that their questions were “beyond my purview.”

“The report is my testimony,” Mueller had said, memorably and ominously, during his lone comments to the press back in May. He meant it. [Continue reading…]