Congress Prepares for Mueller Testimony
Jim Bourg/Reuters
We ran the numbers: There are 1545 news articles covering this topic. 59% (917) are left leaning, 28% (430) center, 13% (198) right leaning.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller will testify at Capitol Hill on Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee. Mueller’s testimony will discuss the findings of his report and whether President Trump committed obstruction of justice, hoping to make the 448-page report more clear to the public.
The testimony is set to follow what has been a controversial series of events from the past few months. After a redacted version of the Mueller Report was released in mid-April, House Democrats and Republicans have been battling over its findings and whether or not it constitutes grounds for impeachment.
Mueller’s testimony is highly anticipated by House Democrats since just two weeks ago a House resolution to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump was dismissed. House Judiciary chairman, Jerry Nadler said in a Fox News article, that he plans to ask Mueller “fact-finding” questions that will help inform the public about the findings from the report.
According to CBS News, Democrats are viewing the testimony as a victory in and of itself, since Robert Mueller previously declared that his final words on the report were during a news conference back in May. Mueller has claimed that he will not be discussing anything outside of his report during the testimony.
Each party is collaborating internally, as this will be their one chance to question Mueller. Democrats in particular are hoping to make the testimony as simple as possible, in order to have clips that will aid their case for impeachment. However, they have expressed some disappointment with the timing of the Mueller testimony, as it falls just two days before the August recess, posing a challenge to continue the dialogue on the testimony.
Coverage from the left, as reflected in a New York Times article, use the upcoming testimony as an opportunity to critique the way the Mueller Report has shaped out thus far, and claim that when fully read, the Mueller Report is “deeply damning” to President Trump. The article also asserts that members of the House have a duty to act and must ask Mueller important questions that will help “connect the dots.” “There is no higher duty for Congress than to investigate and act when such a report lands on your desk. Those who say “oh, a Senate supermajority will never convict Trump” have it backward,” the article stated.
On the other hand, coverage from the right, such as a Fox News article, focused more on Democrats’ attempts to impeach Trump and the agency’s interview with Rep.Jerry Nadler. “It appears top Democrats have made up their minds before Mueller has even been sworn in. In an interview on 'Fox News Sunday," House Judiciary Chairman, Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., accused President Trump of committing "high crimes and misdemeanors" and said the president's infractions meet the standard of impeachment,” the article quoted.
CBS provided more neutral coverage in their news show, by showcasing quotes and interviews from both sides of the political spectrum. The show featured an interview with President Trump where he shared his thoughts about the upcoming testimony. “We had no collusion, no obstruction. We had no nothing. We had a total no collusion finding. The democrats were devastated by it. They went crazy, they went off the deep end. They’re not doing anything,” Trump said in the interview.
Mueller’s upcoming testimony has received a copious amount of coverage so far, with a total of 1545 articles by our count. Of those articles, 59% (917) are left-leaning, 13% (198) are right-leaning, and 28% (430) are centrist.