Dayton-area congressman question Mueller

Dayton-area members of Congress had a chance to question former special counsel Robert Mueller during his nearly seven hours worth of testimony on Wednesday focused on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, focused on the ex-special prosecutor’s decision not to file charges against European academic Joseph Mifsud who first told an aide to Trump’s presidential campaign that Russia had “dirt” on his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Jordan represents the 4th district which includes Champaign, Shelby, Auglaize, Logan and several central Ohio counties.

Jordan peppered Mueller with questions about why he didn’t charge Mifsud with lying to the FBI. Mueller repeatedly deflected with the brief response “can’t get into that.”

“Lot of things you can’t get into,” Jordan retorted.

Jordan, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, used his time to make a case that “maybe a better course of action is to figure out how the false accusations started.”

“You can charge all kinds of people who are around the president with false statements, but the guy who launches everything, the guy who puts this whole story in motion, you can’t charge him,” Jordan said. “I think that’s amazing.”

ExploreLive updates from during the testimony

“I’m not certain I agree with your characterizations,” Mueller told Jordan.

During the House Intelligence Committee hearing, U.S. Rep. Michael Turner, R-Dayton, sparred with Mueller over the meaning of the word “exonerate” and whether it has legal significance.

Turner used law books as props. “Mr. Mueller, no where in these, because we had them scanned, is there a process or description on exonerate,” Turner said. He asked Mueller if the U.S. Attorney General has the power to exonerate. Mueller declined to answer, saying it would embroil them into a legal discussion.

Turner said “The statement about exoneration is misleading and it’s meaningless. It colors this investigation. One word out of the entire portion of your report and it’s a meaningless word that has no legal meaning and it has colored your entire report.”

Turner represents Ohio’s 10th district which includes Montgomery, Greene and part of Fayette County.

U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati, a Judiciary Committee member, used his five minutes to focus on Fusion GPS, an opposition research with ties to the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. Chabot tired to get Mueller to talk about Fusion GPS & the Steele Dossier, but Mueller said repeatedly, “That’s outside my purview.”

Chabot’s 1st district covers Warren and most of Hamilton County.

Credit: Win McNamee

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About the Author

Laura A. Bischoff

Laura Bischoff is our Columbus bureau reporter and covers politics and state government. She keeps a close eye on elected leaders, public employees and taxpayer money. Bischoff tries to write stories that inform voters, hold leaders accountable and strengthen democracy.