On Wednesday, former special counsel Robert Mueller testified publicly before two separate congressional panels.

The Judiciary Committee will come to order.

The hearings marked the first time Mueller answered questions about his investigation of President Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Mueller spent the first half of the day in front of the House Judiciary Committee.

Let me say one more thing. Over the course of my career, I have seen a number of challenges to our democracy.

The Russian government's effort to interfere in our election is among the most serious.

As I said on May 29th, this deserves the attention of every American.

He spent much of the afternoon in front of the House Intelligence Committee.

As we explain in our report, the special counsel regulations effectively gave me the role of United States Attorney.

As a result, we structured our investigation around evidence for possible use in prosecution of federal crimes.

We did not reach what you would call counterintelligence conclusions.

Democratic lawmakers largely focused on episodes outlined in Mueller's report as potential obstruction of justice by President Trump.

Republicans tried to focus on the reasons and circumstances under which Mueller's investigation began.

Mueller, meanwhile, headed into Wednesday's hearings, saying that he preferred not to say more about his work in public.

So, with these competing interests, did the American public actually learn anything new about Mueller's more than two-year-long investigation?

Let's find out.

This is Kenny Doodhan, a podcast that explores the powers and limitations of the American presidency.

I'm Allison Michaels.

Matt Zepatoski, the Post's Justice Department reporter, covered the hearings' life.

Matt, thank you so much for joining us.

Yeah, thank you for having me.

So, let's talk about the strategies heading into this from the perspective of the Democrats and Republicans when it went into Wednesday's testimony.

...