Justice Dept. Tells Mueller to Limit Testimony to His Report

Robert Mueller is due to testify before Congress in nationally televised hearings Wednesday—but America may not hear anything new from the former special counsel. A Justice Department official tells Politico that the department has told Mueller to restrict his testimony to the portions of his 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election that have already been made public. The department is "taking the position that anything outside the written pages of the report are things about which presidential privilege hasn't been waived," the source says. Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer told Mueller in a letter Monday not to discuss anything that could potentially be covered by executive privilege, reports the Washington Post.

The off-limits material includes "discussion about investigative steps or decisions made during your investigation not otherwise described in the public version of your report," Weinsheimer told Mueller. Jim Popkin, a spokesman for Mueller, tells the Post that Mueller plans to make an opening statement before submitting his report for the record. His "official statement for the record will be the Mueller report itself," Popkin says, adding: "You can expect him to stick pretty close to the four walls of the report come Wednesday." Mueller is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee at 8:30am and the House Intelligence Committee at noon. President Trump tweeted Monday night that he had read the entire Mueller report and concluded: "There is no there there. NO THERE THERE!" (More Robert Mueller stories.)