IT'S AN IMPEACHMENT REFERRAL:

ROBERT MUELLER PROVED Wednesday that he might just be the least cooperative friendly witness Congress has ever faced. During close to six hours of Mueller's testimony before two committees, House Democrats learned the hard way that you can lead a special counsel to an impeachment hearing, but you can't make him testify.

The man who had spent the past two years leading the investigation of Russia's attack on the 2016 election, and Donald Trump's apparent obstruction of justice, had promised--warned, really--that he would not go beyond the four corners of the 448-page report he'd delivered earlier this spring. He lived up to that promise.

"The report is my testimony," he told both committees. He refused even to read aloud key portions of that report, preferring to have congressional representatives read it aloud themselves, and then confirming in monosyllabic answers whether those portions were accurate. CBS tallied 41 one-word answers in just the first half of the morning Judiciary Committee hearing; Mueller declined more broadly to discuss all manner of other related and unrelated topics.

The day's most clarifying exchange came during the first five minutes of the hearing, when Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler ran through a rapid-fire series of questions aimed at undermining President Trump's consistent mantra of "No collusion, no obstruction."

As Nadler opened, "Director Mueller, the president has repeatedly claimed that your report found there was no obstruction and that it completely and totally exonerated him, but that is not what your report said, is it?"

"Correct. That is not what the report said," the former special counsel replied.

Then Nadler proceeded: "The report did not conclude that he did not commit obstruction of justice, is that correct?"

"That is correct," Mueller said.

Nadler: "And what about total exoneration? Did you actually totally exonerate the president?"

Mueller: "No."

Nadler: "Now, in fact, your report expressly states that it does not exonerate the president."

Mueller: "It does."

Nadler: "Your investigation actually found, 'multiple acts by the president that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian interference and obstruction investigations.' Is that correct?"

Mueller: "Correct."

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