[F]ormer special counsel Robert Mueller told Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., that he shares the Vermont congressman’s concern that future political campaigns will be able to coordinate with foreign governments with impunity thanks to the precedent set by President Donald Trump and his staff.
“I hope this is not the new normal, but I fear it is,” Mueller warned Welch, during his two and a half hour testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.
Mueller answered questions about his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by the Trump administration for over seven hours in front of two committees on Wednesday.
Throughout Mueller’s testimony, Democrats tried to strengthen their case for impeaching the president. House Republicans repeatedly attempted to show there was not enough evidence to show collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and attacked the credibility of Mueller’s investigative team.
Welch, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, questioned Mueller after the former special counsel had already been answering questions for over six hours — he spent the morning speaking to the House Judiciary Committee.
Before Mueller began testifying in front of the intelligence panel, Welch took to Twitter with a photo of Mueller’s 448-page report and the words “I’m ready.”
I’m ready. #MuellerReport #vtpoli pic.twitter.com/IvhU6lJiek
— Rep. Peter Welch (@PeterWelch) July 24, 2019
Welch began by asking if Mueller had found “collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Mueller responded that they didn’t use the word collusion, and seemed to be unsuccessfully grasping for the right word before Welch asked if he was searching for the term “conspiracy.”
“You help me, I’ll help you,” Welch quipped.
The Vermont congressman, who practiced injury law while serving in Vermont’s House before heading to Washington D.C., then walked through evidence in Mueller’s report pointing to a possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Welch asked Mueller to confirm that Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chair, gave private polling information to “Russian agents;” that Donald Trump Jr. arranged a meeting at Trump Tower to receive damaging information on the Hilary Clinton campaign; and that Manafort was aware of a misinformation social media campaign orchestrated by the Russian government.
Mueller said all of this is accurate, according to his report.
Welch then said he understands Mueller made the prosecutorial decision that this evidence does not rise to proof beyond a reasonable doubt to prove conspiracy.
But then the Vermont congressman asked if the former special counsel is concerned that the Trump campaign’s conduct during the 2016 election has set a standard that will be duplicated in future elections.
“Have we established a new normal from this past campaign that is going to apply to future campaigns,” Welch asked. “That if any one of us running for the U.S. House, any candidate for the U.S. Senate, any candidate for the presidency of the United States, aware that a hostile foreign power is trying to influence an election, has no duty to report that to the FBI or other authorities?”
Mueller, who in the past has expressed concern over the erosion of American democracy, responded that he believes there is a good chance that such behavior will become common practice in campaigns moving forward.
“I hope this is not the new normal, but I fear it is,” Mueller said.
Welch completed his five minutes of questioning by asking for advice about how best to protect the electoral system.
Mueller responded that the different national security and law enforcement agencies must share information and cooperate with each other.
“The first line of defense really is the ability of the various agencies who have some piece of this to not only share information but share expertise, share targets and use the full resources that we have to address this problem,” Mueller said.
Welch’s questioning of the former special counsel comes a week after he publicly voiced support for proceeding with impeachment proceedings against the president, something he had declined to do before.
On Monday, he held a town hall meeting in Montpelier to explain to Vermonters why he had decided the president should be removed from office.
At that time, Welch said he hoped that Mueller would “speak freely and fluidly” about the key findings in his report on the 2016 election.
“It really is an opportunity for Mr. Mueller to tell the American people what he found,” he said.
