memeorandum: Here's what surprised us during the Mueller testimony

7:40 PM ET, July 24, 2019

Top Items:

Analysis of Mueller's Congressional Hearing — Mueller's Congressional Hearing — Former Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III testified before Congress after two years of near-total silence. Our reporters provided context and analysis during the hearing.

Discussion: twitchy.com, NB Blog and CNSNews

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

How Republicans Used Mueller's Conservatism to Discredit Him — Robert Mueller's performance in two House hearings must have badly shaken the bipartisan cult that had grown around him for two years. Even accounting for the difficulty of precisely answering verbal questions about long text in real time …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Maria Bustillos / Columbia Journalism Review:

MSNBC public editor: The Chuck Todd show — After former Special Counsel Robert Mueller' testified before the House Judiciary Committee this morning, Chuck Todd managed to demonstrate, with uncharacteristic brevity, his basic misunderstanding of the requirements of his job:

Discussion: New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Melanie Zanona / Politico:

‘Euphoria’: White House, GOP exult after a flat Mueller performance — The tense opening moments of former special counsel Robert Mueller's much-anticipated testimony on Capitol Hill gave way to an early sense of relief at the White House, where aides were quietly celebrating what they viewed …

Discussion: Vox, Splinter, FiveThirtyEight and The Hill

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:

LIVE UPDATES: Trump not exonerated, Mueller testifies, could be charged after leaving office — Former special counsel Robert Mueller is on Capitol Hill for historic testimony before lawmakers in back-to-back House hearings on his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election …

Discussion: Politico, RedState, Hot Air, Townhall, The Week, Mother Jones, The Hill, NPR, The Intercept, Vox, Slate, Breitbart, National Review, twitchy.com, LifeZette, Daily Kos and IndieWire

Addy Baird / BuzzFeed News:

“A Bit Of A Dud” — Some Democrats Said The Mueller Hearings Didn't Live Up To Expectations — WASHINGTON — The day finally arrived: DC bars opened early, interns who had camped out in the Capitol overnight filled the room, and dozens of cameras were set. All eyes were on former special …

Discussion: Vox

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Confused performance by Mueller raises questions about handling of investigation — It took just minutes for Robert Mueller's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee to turn into a painful exercise when it became clear the 74 year-old special counsel had difficulty handling …

Discussion: The Bulwark, Power Line, YouTube, Fox News, Daily Wire, Chicks On The Right, emptywheel and Townhall

Politico:

Here's what surprised us during the Mueller testimony — and 4 other takeaways — It's over. After months of anticipation, Robert Mueller has finally testified on Capitol Hill. — Over five-plus hours of testimony, Mueller regularly deflected and refused to answer lawmakers' questions …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

NBC News:

How many times has Robert Mueller deflected, declined or deferred a question? Live tracker — Follow along as the former special counsel delivers his testimony in front of House committees. — All eyes and ears are on former special counsel Robert Mueller today.

Discussion: Foreign Policy, The Stream, The Week, Grabien News, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire, twitchy.com and Opinion Today

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Welcome to our live analysis! 👋 — As former special counsel Robert Mueller testifies before Congress, watch our livestream, and follow POLITICO reporters Darren Samuelsohn, Josh Gerstein, Natasha Bertrand, Blake Hounshell and Eliana Johnson's latest analysis.

Discussion: Vox, Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, New York Post, Breitbart, Quartz, Law & Crime, RedState, Chicks On The Right and National Review

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
‘Bob Mueller is struggling’

Discussion: New Republic, Vox, Reason, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Breitbart, The Stream and Splinter

Paul LeBlanc / CNN: Michael Cohen responds to Mueller testimony from prison: ‘The American people deserve more!’

Russell Berman / The Atlantic: Republicans Take Their Shot at Mueller—And Narrowly Miss

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: How to think about today's Mueller extravaganza

Discussion: Detroit News, National Review and Axios

New York Times:
Major Moments of Robert Mueller's Testimony to Congress

Discussion: The Atlantic, Breitbart, CNN, The National Interest, The Daily Caller, The Nation, Washington Post, The Crime Report and Pacific Standard

Laurie Kellman / Associated Press:
Mueller offers terse answers, uncertainty in testimony

Discussion: fox8.com and Associated Press

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Mueller's finally done. Here's how his probe lives on.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and POLITICUSUSA

The Permanent Select Committee …:
July 24 Nunes Opening Statement for Mueller Hearing

Discussion: Breitbart

Talia Kaplan / Fox News:
Trump campaign on Mueller's testimony: ‘A disaster for Democrats’

Discussion: Breitbart

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Mueller Reminds the Public: Trump Betrayed the United States

Discussion: Slate and Media Matters for America

David Harsanyi / The Federalist:
Robert Mueller's Testimony Has Been A Complete Disaster For Democrats

Discussion: Washington Examiner, USA Today and YouTube

Associated Press:
Mueller dismisses Trump's claims of Russia probe exoneration

Discussion: The Atlantic, Right Wing Watch, Chicago Sun-Times, Associated Press, Fortune, KTLA, Axios, FOX6Now.com and CNN

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Robert Mueller, Caught in the TV Spotlight

Discussion: NBC News and twitchy.com

CBS News:
Mueller testifies before Congress on special counsel report — live updates

Discussion: Vox, The Week, The Wrap, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Press and Mother Jones

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
Mueller, in occasionally halting testimony, points to foreign interference and offers some sharp criticism of Trump

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Fortune

Washington Post:
Trump says ‘we had a very good day’ after Mueller hearings end

Discussion: USA Today, Shareblue Media, BuzzFeed News, CNN, Florida Politics, Washington Press, Florida Phoenix, Big Think, Fortune, Vanity Fair, ThinkProgress, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
10 key takeaways from Robert Mueller's testimony

Discussion: Washington Post, mailchi.mp, checkyourfact.com, Media Matters for America and National Review

The Daily Beast:
Mueller to Congress: Trump Could Be Charged With a Crime After He Leaves Office

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Vox, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

The Daily Beast:

Jeffrey Epstein Visited Clinton White House Multiple Times in Early 90s — A Daily Beast investigation has uncovered ties between Epstein and the Clinton administration that date back to the president's earliest days in the White House. — Days after Jeffrey Epstein's arrest …

Nina Totenberg / NPR:

Justice Ginsburg: ‘I Am Very Much Alive’ — Toggle more options — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in an interview Tuesday that she does not favor proposals put forth by some Democratic presidential candidates who have advocated changing the number of Supreme Court justices if the Democrats win the presidency.

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, LifeNews.com, CNN, Vanity Fair, The Daily Caller, Quartz, TheBlaze, Washington Free Beacon, Above the Law, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Splinter, New York Post and FOX6Now.com

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:

Trump Must Face Suit Over Alleged Multilevel Marketing Fraud — President Donald Trump, his company and three of his children must face a class-action lawsuit in which people claim they were scammed into spending money on fraudulent, multilevel marketing ventures and a dubious live-seminar program …

Discussion: Washington Press

Politico:

Will China send in troops to stamp out protests in Hong Kong? — This story is being published for POLITICO as part of a content partnership with the South China Morning Post. It originally appeared on scmp.com on July 24, 2019. — It is a prospect dreaded by many in Hong Kong …

Discussion: One America News Network

Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:
China Hints Its Troops Could Be Used to Quell Hong Kong Protests

Discussion: The Stranger

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:

Poll: Biden has 7-point lead over 2020 field, Warren follows in second place — Former Vice President Joe Biden has a 7-point lead over the Democratic presidential primary field, according to a new Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday, retaining his lead compared to the previous survey.

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart and Political Wire

David Frum / The Atlantic:

What If They're Not Coming for the Jews This Time? — It's becoming almost a daily occurrence: President Donald Trump denouncing anti-Semitism and expressing solidarity with the state of Israel. — Gone are the days when Trump tweeted out a Star of David atop stacks of money.

Hanna Trudo / The Daily Beast:

Tensions Between Bernie Sanders and MSNBC Boil Over — The Vermont senator's campaign sees the cable news network as part of a brewing problem that allows vague and unverified claims to go unchecked on air. — The mounting tension between a leading progressive presidential campaign …

Discussion: Daily Wire and Common Dreams