After months of calling on special counsel Robert Mueller to testify about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, House Democrats’ wish is about to come true. Mueller, who has studiously avoided the political firestorm around his findings, will now appear in back-to-back public hearings before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on Wednesday. …
A lot will depend on how the hearings unfold, but polling shows that Democrats and Republicans are divided, so there’s also a very real question about how much Mueller’s testimony can actually move the needle. Democrats, for instance, are much more likely to approve of Mueller’s job performance than Republicans, and only Democrats support starting impeachment proceedings.
But even if the hearings don’t succeed in changing minds about the report’s findings — which, let’s face it, seems likely — hearing from Mueller could still energize Democrats and maybe help to weaken Trump’s approval rating as part of House Democrats’ broader investigations. On the other hand, in our era of hyper-partisan politics, even high-profile congressional investigations might not be as damaging to a president as they were in the past. CONT.
Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, FiveThirtyEight
Recent polls: Trump, Russia, Mueller