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DOJ issues statement apparently intended to intimidate Mueller ahead of his Wednesday appearance before Congress

WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department told former Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Monday he should limit his testimony before Congress this week to discussing his public report on the Russia probe.

In a letter to Mueller, Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer said his testimony set for Wednesday before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees “must remain within the boundaries of your public report because matters within the scope of your investigation were covered by executive privilege.”

However, former Obama administration acting Solicitor General Neal K. Katyal, in the New York Times writes,

There are just three simple yes-or-no questions Congress should ask Robert Mueller:

Mr. Mueller, the president said your report found, in his words, “no collusion, no obstruction, complete and total exoneration.”

First, did your report find there was no collusion?

Second, did your report find there was no obstruction?

Third, did your report give the president complete and total exoneration?

That’s it. That’s the ballgame. It makes no difference if there are 20 questioners or two when Mr. Mueller appears before two House committees on Wednesday. All of this speculation about whether Mr. Mueller will go beyond the four corners of his report is largely a waste of time, with one asterisk. The report itself is deeply damning to Mr. Trump, elevating him to the rare president who has been credibly documented as committing federal crimes while sitting in office. [...]

But now we get to something interesting — the asterisk. Mr. Mueller’s testimony will occur under a greatly changed circumstance from when the report was finished. The attorney general has recently said, referring to Mr. Mueller, “I personally felt he could’ve reached a decision” about obstruction, and further said that “the opinion says you cannot indict a president while he is in office, but he could’ve reached a decision as to whether it was criminal activity.”

That compels Congress to ask Mr. Mueller two final questions: “First, when you were serving as special counsel, did Mr. Barr ever tell you that you could reach a decision about Mr. Trump’s criminality? Second, since Mr. Barr has now said that department policy allows you to reach a decision as to whether it was criminal activity, please do so. No one knows the facts better than you. We need you to. ”

The report speaks for itself. But in an era when our leaders have lied about it in the hope that Americans won’t read it, we need simple connect-the-dots questions clearly posed that will correct the record. Mr. Mueller’s report itself says that a sitting president cannot be indicted because it may “potentially pre-empt constitutional processes for addressing presidential misconduct.” Our Constitution outlines only one such process: an impeachment inquiry in the House. It’s time.