Seriously have outlined evidence of obstruction of justice. The president did not just attempt to obstruct the special counsels investigation, but he is also obstructing our congressional investigation into his conduct. The president has instructed a number of witnesses to ignore our subpoenas in order to hide his wrongdoing from the American People. One of those witnesses is rob porter, the former white house staff secretary, who was served with a subpoena by this committee on august 26. Rob porter was prominently featured in the special counsel Robert Muellers report with a detailed description of efforts to obstruct justice. The report describes the president directing then White House Counsel Don Mcgahn to fire the special counsel, and then ordering him to lie about it. The committee has many questions for mr. Porter, but the president doesnt want us asking those questions. The president directed mr. Porter not to appear based on a bogus claim of absolute immunity , a pattern by th
Manager Corey Lewandowski was. Sked about the interactions on judiciary will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to call recesses at any time. We welcome everyone to todays hearing on president ial obstruction of president ial obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Before we begin i remind our Committee Members that we should refrain from making inappropriate personal references to protected parties, namely the president , Vice President , members of the senate, members of the house. This would include accusations of dishonesty, criminality, treason, or other unethical or imoper motives. The Critical Issues we are addressing today which go to the very core of our constitutional democracy, understandably bring out strong passions in us as they do in the American People. I hope that in what should but i hope that in what should be a spirited discussion of these issues today well stay focused on the issues and take care of to the keep our comments from being dire
From the American People. Is robthose witnesses porter, former white house staff secretary served by a subpoena from the secretary august 26. Rob porter was prominently featured in Robert Muellers report with a detailed description of efforts to obstruct justice. The report describes the president directing them White House Counsel Don Mcgahn to fire the special counsel and then ordering him to lie about it. The committee has many questions but the president is not wants asking those questions. The president directed mr. Porter not to they saw bogus claim of immunity. Mr. Dearborn is not here today either for the same reason. Sphere of what we and the American People could learn from their testimony. Their absence will not stop the oversight. On january 25, 2018, the New York Times reported the president had ordered mcgahn to have the department of justice fire the special counsel. The president went on tv and denied the story. The president pressured mcgahn to put out a statement deny
Former special Counsel Robert Mueller was on capitol hill testifying before the intelligence committees, russia investigation. Well show the first hearing he appeared out. This is held by the house judiciary committee. [background noises] fiduciary Committee Welcome to order. Without objection, chair authorized to recess at anytime. We welcome everyone to todays hearing. Investigation into the russian president ial election. Thousand 16. A brief Opening Statement. Thank you for being here, doctor kohler. I would to say a few words about these things today. Responsible to, integrity and accountability. Your career is a model of responsibility. You are a decorated marine officer. He served as the department of justice and immediate estimate of 9 11 Service Director of the fbi. Two years ago, you return to Public Service into russian interference in 2616 election. Conducted the investigation with remarkable integrity. Twentytwo months, you never commented in public about the work even whe
Captioning performed by vitac although your report states collusion is not a specific offense and you have said this this morning, or a term of art in federal criminal law, conspiracy is in the colloquial context are collusion and conspiracy essentially synonymous terms . You are going to have to rethat for me. Collusion is not a specific offense or a term of art in the federal criminal law, conspiracy is. Yes. In the colloquial context no public context collusion and conspiracy are essentially synonymous terms, correct . No. If not on page 180 of volume 1 of your report you wrote in as defined in legal dictionaries collusion is largely synonymous with conspiracy 18 usc you said at your may 29 press conference and here today you choose your words carefully. Are you testifying Something Different from what your report states. What im asking is if you can give me the citation i can look at the citation and evaluate whether it is accurate. Let me just clarify. You stated that you had stay