Arizona Representatives Debbie Lesko, Greg Stanton, and Andy Biggs played starring roles in the Mueller hearings on Wednesday, even if their questioning of the former Special Counsel largely reflected their political leanings.
Lesko’s line of questioning made the news based on its focus on the media’s influence on the investigation itself.
Lesko asked the former special counsel “Were you ever fired Mr Mueller?” Mueller replied “No.”
“Were you allowed to complete your investigation unencumbered?” asked Lesko. Mueller replied “Yes.”
Then Lesko focused on the Mueller Report’s reliance on media coverage, stinging the addled Mueller. “Rather than purely relying on the evidence provided by witnesses and documents, I think you relied a lot on media,” she said. “I’d like to know how many times you cited the Washington Post in your report?”
Mueller did not know the answer. Lesko told him that she had counted 60 times that the Washington Post was cited in the report. Lesko then advised Mueller that his report cited the New York Times 75 times and cited Fox News 25 times.
“Volume two is mostly regurgitated press stories,” Lesko said. “Honestly, there’s almost nothing in volume two that I couldn’t already hear or know simply by having a $50 cable news subscription.”
At this morning’s hearing, I pointed out that Mueller issued a statement that the OLC opinion, that you cannot indict a sitting president, was NOT the only reason he chose not to indict. pic.twitter.com/I2uUMaDaua
— Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (@RepDLesko) July 24, 2019
Mueller dodged Biggs’ question as to what point in the multi-million dollar two year investigation he personally reached the conclusion that there was no evidence of a conspiracy between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Robert Mueller should have known when he came to the conclusion that @POTUS @realDonaldTrump wasn’t the object, target, or focus of a collusion charge. I believe this info may have been known to the Mueller team, and should have been quickly released to Americans, much earlier. pic.twitter.com/GjFCGeESN1
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) July 25, 2019
“The attacks made against you and your team intensified because your report is damning, and I believe you did uncover substantial evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors,” said Stanton pushing the impeachment agenda of the progressive members of the Democratic caucus.
“The attacks made against you and your team intensified because your report is damning. I believe you uncovered substantial evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors…I believe you are right about something else: The only remedy for this situation is for Congress to take action.” pic.twitter.com/2a3sbzf1yl
— Greg Stanton (@RepGregStanton) July 24, 2019
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