The Judiciary Committee will come to order without objection the chair is authorized to declare

recesses of the committee at any time. We welcome everyone to today's hearing on oversight

of the report on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

I will now recognize myself for a brief opening statement.

Dr. Mueller, thank you for being here. I want to say just a few words about our themes today.

Responsibility, integrity, and accountability. Your career, for example, is a model of responsibility.

You are a decorated marine officer. You are awarded a purple heart and the bronze star

for valor in Vietnam. You served in senior roles at the Department of Justice and in the

immediate aftermath of 9-11. You served as director of the FBI. Two years ago, you returned

to public service to lead the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

You conducted that investigation with remarkable integrity. For 22 months, you never commented

in public about your work, even when you were subjected to repeated and grossly unfair personal

attacks. Instead, your indictments spoke for you and then astonishing detail. Over the course

of your investigation, you obtained criminal indictments against 37 people and entities.

You secured the conviction of President Trump's campaign chairman, his deputy campaign manager,

his national security adviser, and his personal lawyer, among others. In the polled manifold

case alone, you recovered as much as $42 million so that the cost of your investigation

to the taxpayers approaches zero. And in your report, you offer the country accountability

as well. In volume one, you find that the Russian government attacked our 2016 elections,

quote, in a sweeping and systematic fashion, and that the attacks were designed to benefit

the Trump campaign. Volume two, walks us through 10 separate incidents of possible obstruction

of justice, where in your words, President Trump attempted to exert undue influence over

...