Robert Mueller has so far proved to be a lackluster witness for House Democrats hoping for damning evidence against President Donald Trump.
The former special counsel delivered a less-than-blockbuster performance, frequently dodging questions and repeatedly asking lawmakers to repeat their inquiries.
To be fair, Mueller presented himself as a reluctant witness, telling reporters in a May news conference that he didn’t want to testify and that his 448-page report speaks for itself.
Still, the former FBI director frustrated both Republicans and Democrats who struggled to pry any new information out of Mueller.
“A lot of things you can’t get into,” a frustrated-sounding Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said after Mueller delivered six variations of “I can’t get into that” responses.
Below is a count of how many times Mueller dodged or otherwise fumbled a question, after the first portion of the hearing:
* Number of times Mueller asked lawmakers to repeat their questions: 23
* Number of times Mueller simply directed lawmakers back to his report: 31
* Number of times Mueller said the questions were outside his “purview”: 10
* Number of times Mueller said he “can’t” or “won’t” get into the substance of the question: 58
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine