Gaetz made Mueller squirm while questioning him about Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele.

By Shane Trejo

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) blasted former FBI special investigator Robert Mueller during a Congressional hearing today before the House Judiciary Committee regarding Mueller’s unwillingness to address Fusion FPS and their dubious Christopher Steele dossier.

“Director Mueller, can you state with confidence that the Steele dossier was not part of Russia’s disinformation campaign?” Gaetz asked Mueller.

“Uhh ahh, I said, eeh uhh, in my opening statement, ehh uhh, that, uhh, part of the, ehh uhh, building of the case was predated me by at least ten months,” Mueller responded, struggling to spit out a coherent sentence.

“Yeah, and Paul Manafort’s alleged crimes regarding tax evasion predated you, and you had no problem charging him,” Gaetz retorted.

The pro-Trump legislator was just getting warmed up in taking Mueller to task for how he conducted his biased witch hunt.

“As a matter of fact, this Steele dossier predated the Attorney General, and he didn’t have any problem answering the question. When Sen. Cornyn asked the Attorney General the exact question I asked you, Director, the Attorney General said, and I’m quoting, ‘No, I can’t state that with confidence, and that’s one of the areas I’m reviewing. I’m concerned about it, and I don’t think it’s entirely speculative,’” Gaetz told Mueller.

“Now if something is not entirely speculative, then it must have some factual basis, but you identify no factual basis regarding the dossier or the possibility that it was apart of the Russia disinformation campaign,” he added.

Gaetz then began to delve into the details regarding the Steele dossier, which was produced by Fusion GPS via the law firm Perkins Coie funded with cash from the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee.

“Steele reported to the FBI that senior Russian foreign ministry figures, along with other Russians, told him that there was, and I’m quoting from the Steele dossier, ‘extensive evidence of conspiracy between the Trump campaign team and the Kremlin,’” Gaetz said.

“So here’s my question, did Russians really tell that to Christopher Steele or did he just make it all up and was he just lying to the FBI?” Gaetz asked Mueller.

Mueller resorted to his usual defense throughout the day’s questioning, in order to slither out of having to provide a direct answer.

“That’s beyond my purview,” Mueller responded.

Gaetz was not impressed by Mueller’s weasel tactics, and continued to drill him with the facts.

“No, it is exactly your purview, Director Mueller, and here’s why,” Gaetz said. “Only one of two things is possible, right, either, Steele made this whole thing up, and there were never any Russians telling him of this vast criminal conspiracy that you didn’t find, or Russians lied to Steele.”

“Now, if Russians were lying to Steele to undermine our confidence in our duly elected President, that would seem to be precisely your purview because you stated in your opening that the organizing principle was to fully and thoroughly investigate Russia’s interference, but you weren’t interested in whether or not Russians were interfering through Christopher Steele,” he added.

Gaetz’s smack down of Mueller can be viewed in full here:

Mueller’s persistent confusion and inability to answer basic questions has many speculating that he was merely a figurehead, and was never responsible for the contents of his own report.

Jack Posobiec of One America News Network contends that the Mueller report was written by Department of Justice attorney Andrew Weissman, a member of Mueller’s team who has extensive ties to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Today has to be seen as a major victory for Republicans, led by Gaetz, who can now point to Mueller’s muddled testimony as more evidence that his investigation against President Trump regarding Russian collusion was a biased witch hunt.