to exercise the subpoena powers because of the necessity of expediting the end of the investigation. you did go with written questions after nine months, sir, right? and the president responded to those. and you have some hard language for what you thought of those responses. what did you think of the president s written responses, mr. mueller. it was certainly not as useful as the interview would be. and of course we recall he told congresswoman demings that he agreed generally they were untruthful in those answers. at least not always being truthful. so back with me in the panel. david preece let me start with you why didn t mueller pursue that further when he wanted one, felt it would have been vital, made that clear to the president that it would have been vital. he said that again and again. president want wouldn t do it statute. this is one of the areas he explained well in the hearing and paralleled what was in the report. yeah. when he talked about the balance here.