--- title: Mueller Says He Doesn't Want to Appear Before Congress description: "Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report," he said. canonical: https://time.com/5597652/robert-mueller-testify-congress/ author: Abby Vesoulis article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-29T17:09:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:37:31.812Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'The Report Is My Testimony.' Robert Mueller Signals He'd Rather Not Testify to Congress og:description: "Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report," he said. og:url: https://time.com/5597652/robert-mueller-testify-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea99c0a612361c50/69894a8f86f68e23bd6ebf19/robert-mueller-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation on May 29, 2019 at the Justice Department in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Report Is My Testimony.' Robert Mueller Signals He'd Rather Not Testify to Congress twitter:description: "Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report," he said. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea99c0a612361c50/69894a8f86f68e23bd6ebf19/robert-mueller-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'The Report Is My Testimony.' Robert Mueller Signals He'd Rather Not Testify to Congress > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Abby Vesoulis](https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis May 29, 2019 5:09 PM UTC  Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation on May 29, 2019 at the Justice Department in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images) Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation on May 29, 2019 at the Justice Department in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images) Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Abby Vesoulis](https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis May 29, 2019 5:09 PM UTC During Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s [first public remarks](http://time.com/5597514/robert-mueller-statement/) since his team’s [448-page report](https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf) was released in April, he explained that he did not want to appear before Congress to discuss his findings. “There has been discussion about an appearance before Congress. Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. It contains our findings and analysis, and the reasons for the decisions we made. We chose those words carefully, and the work speaks for itself,” Mueller said Wednesday. “The report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress.” [Mueller’s remarks](http://time.com/5597526/robert-mueller-statement-investigation/) came as a surprise to some. Although the White House had been informed about the statement on Tuesday night, according to a senior official, leadership aides in both parties in Congress said they were unaware until the announcement was issued. The House Judiciary and House Intelligence committees are in the process of negotiating with the Justice Department for Mueller to appear before Congress. According to aides, the Judiciary Committee had advance notice of the remarks, but Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler’s team did not respond to requests for comment, and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff’s team declined to comment. Trump’s 2020 team believes the matter is finished. “Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s remarks today confirmed what we already knew. There was no collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign, and there was no case for obstruction. President Trump has been fully and completely exonerated. Mueller said his investigation is over,” campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement obtained by TIME. As he wrote in his report, Mueller noted that investigators did not exonerate Trump, however. “If we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that,” he reiterated. And Democrats still want Mueller to make an appearance. At the very least, they believe that Mueller reiterating portions of the report in a Congressional appearance could be helpful in addressing Russian attempts to interfere in the election. Some also think that Mueller reiterating the point in his report that specified Congress could act on his findings would back up the potential for an impeachment inquiry. “Congress has authority to prohibit a President’s corrupt use of his authority in order to protect the integrity of the administration of justice,” Mueller’s report says. _With reporting by Alana Abramson_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5597652/robert-mueller-testify-congress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5597652/robert-mueller-testify-congress/"},"headline":"'The Report Is My Testimony.' 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