The Latest: Mueller disputes Trump claim he wanted FBI job

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony on the Russia probe (all times local):

9:55 a.m.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller is disputing President Donald Trump’s claim that Mueller was rebuffed in a bid to fill the post of FBI director.

Facing questions from congressional lawmakers, Mueller said he spoke with Trump about the FBI job before he was named as special counsel, but “not as a candidate.”

Then-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has said that while the White House invited Mueller to speak to the president about the FBI and thought about asking him to become director again, Mueller did not come in looking for a job.

Trump tweeted Wednesday that there are “numerous witnesses,” including Vice President Mike Pence, who could say that Mueller applied and interviewed for the job and was “turned down” for it.

Pence spokesperson Alyssa Farah told the Associated Press that the vice president “was present in the Oval Office when Robert Mueller interviewed for the job of FBI Director in May of 2017.”

Mueller is testifying before Congress for the first time on his Trump-Russia investigation.

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9:20 a.m.

Robert Mueller is testifying before Congress that the Russians believed they would benefit from Donald Trump winning the 2016 presidential election.

The former special counsel was asked Wednesday if his investigation found the Russian government perceived a benefit if one of the candidates won.

“Yes,” he said.

And which candidate would that be? asked Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat.

“It would be Trump,” Mueller said.

Mueller is testifying before Congress for the first time on his Trump-Russia investigation.

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9 a.m.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is dismissing President Donald Trump’s claim of “total exoneration,” saying it’s not what his Russia report said.

Mueller told lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that investigators did not exonerate Trump of obstruction of justice.

He made the statement in response to questions from the committee’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat.

Mueller’s report said the investigation did not find sufficient evidence to establish charges of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia. But it said investigators did not clear Trump of trying to obstruct the probe.

A redacted version of the 448-page report compiled by Mueller’s team was released by the Justice Department in April.

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8:55 a.m.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller says he will be unable to answer questions he knows are of public interest.

That includes details of the origins of the FBI’s Russia investigation. Republicans have suggested that it was a political vendetta started by law enforcement officers who did not like President Donald Trump.

Mueller is testifying before Congress Wednesday for the first time on his Trump-Russia investigation.

Mueller also said he would not be able to discuss matters related to the so-called “Steele Dossier,” a once-confidential campaign memo written by a former British spy that had a detailed narrative of how the Russian government supposedly collaborated with the Trump campaign.

Mueller’s investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government in its election interference efforts.

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8:50 a.m.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller says Russia’s efforts to interfere in U.S. elections is “among the most serious” challenges to American democracy.

Mueller made the statement in his opening remarks before the House Judiciary Committee. He’ll appear before the intelligence committee later in the day.

Mueller has expressed his reluctance to testify and said he won’t go beyond what’s in his 448-page report released in April.

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8:45 a.m.

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee has defended President Donald Trump as the committee opened its hearing with former special counsel Robert Mueller.

Georgia Rep. Doug Collins says “the president knew he was innocent” and did not shut down Mueller’s probe, even though he had the authority to do so.

Mueller’s report released in April said that he could not exonerate the president on obstruction of justice. It also said there was not enough evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Collins said Russia meddled in the 2016 election but “the president did not conspire with Russians.” He said “nothing we hear today will change those facts.”

Collins said Republicans will also question the origins of Mueller’s investigation.

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8:37 a.m.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler says his committee has “a responsibility to address” the evidence that former special counsel Robert Mueller has uncovered in his Trump-Russia investigation.

Opening a three-hour hearing with Mueller, Nadler said there are themes to the hearing: “responsibility, integrity, and accountability.”

Nadler laid out the examples from Mueller’s report that committee members intend to focus on while questioning the reluctant former special counsel.

Mueller wrote in the document that he could not exonerate President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice.

He noted Trump’s directions to then-White House counsel Donald McGahn to have Mueller removed and, once that was made public, orders from Trump to McGahn to deny it happened.

Nadler said “not even the president is above the law.”

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8:35 a.m.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller is appearing before Congress for the first time to discuss the Russia investigation.

Mueller is testifying Wednesday morning before the House Judiciary Committee. He’ll appear before the intelligence committee later in the day.

The nation has heard the special counsel speak only once — for nine minutes in May — since his appointment more than two years ago.

Mueller has expressed his reluctance to testify and said he won’t go beyond what’s in his 448-page report released in April.

8:05 a.m.

Former special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL’-ur) has arrived on Capitol Hill to testify before two House panels about his Russia investigation.

Mueller was flanked by police officers in the Rayburn House Office Building as he headed toward a hearing room Wednesday morning. Senior Mueller aide Aaron Zebley also was in the hearing room.

Mueller is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee and the House intelligence committee.

Mueller’s investigation shadowed Donald Trump’s presidency for nearly two years and officially concluded in March, when he submitted his 448-page report.

The nation has heard the former special counsel speak only once, for nine minutes in May, since his 2017 appointment.

Mueller has expressed his reluctance to testify and said he won’t go beyond what’s in his report.

Trump has called Mueller’s investigation a “witch hunt.”

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12:05 a.m.

The former special counsel in the Trump-Russia probe, Robert Mueller, will finally face congressional interrogators on Wednesday, testifying in televised hearings.

Democrats hope Mueller’s testimony will weaken President Donald Trump’s reelection prospects in ways that Mueller’s book-length report did not. Republicans are ready to defend Trump and turn their fire on Mueller and his team instead.

The back-to-back Capitol Hill appearances in the morning and at noon are Mueller’s first since wrapping his two-year Russia probe last spring. The hearings carry the extraordinary spectacle of a prosecutor discussing in public a criminal investigation he conducted into a sitting U.S. president.

Mueller is known for his taciturn nature, and he has warned lawmakers that he will not stray beyond what’s already been revealed in his report.

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For more of AP’s coverage of the Trump investigation: https://apnews.com/TrumpInvestigations

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