In a Monday letter to former special counsel Robert Mueller, the Department of Justice instructed the former prosecutor to limit his upcoming congressional testimony to what is already in his 448-page report that was released in April.
Mueller, who will testify Wednesday morning in front of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, was subpoenaed in June to appear before Congress to discuss the details of his investigation into possible collusion between President Trump and the Russian government during the 2016 election.
In response to a request for guidance on what he should and should not say during the hearing, the DOJ expressed agreement with Mueller that his testimony is largely unnecessary but expressly instructed him to stay within the bounds of what was already reported and made public.
The DOJ still regards any evidence gathered by Mueller in the course of his investigation to be privileged and therefore off-limits to anyone raising questions in the hearing.
The letter to Mueller stated, in part, “Any testimony must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege, including information protected by law enforcement … Department witnesses should decline to address potentially privileged matters.”
[Related: Pelosi may face new impeachment pressure with Mueller testimony]
Here is the DOJ’s letter to Robert Mueller about his Congressional testimony this week. pic.twitter.com/S5BY3FjN0U
— Christina Ginn (@NBChristinaGinn) July 22, 2019
