Although other pieces from the same outlets covered the substance of Mueller’s testimony, the conclusion that he had failed to excite his audience framed the totality of coverage. NBC News’s Chuck Todd spoke for much of the political press when he declared, “On substance, Democrats got what they wanted: that Mueller didn’t charge Pres. Trump because of the OLC guidance, that he could be indicted after he leaves office, among other things. But on optics, this was a disaster.” Mueller testified that the president was likely guilty of federal crimes, and the most important American media outlets reviewed his performance like a disappointing late-series episode of Game of Thrones. Mueller did not deliver The Payoff That Was Promised.

In The Washington Post’s opinion section, Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman highlighted two exchanges between Mueller and House Democrats, one with Adam Schiff, the chair of the Intelligence Committee, and the other with Jerrold Nadler, who chairs the Judiciary Committee. The substance of both of these exchanges confirms the seriousness of the charges against the president. Mueller’s interaction with Schiff, in particular, is worth revisiting:

Schiff: Russia committed federal crimes in order to help Donald Trump? Mueller: You’re talking about the computer crimes charged in our case? Absolutely. Schiff: Trump campaign officials built their strategy, their messaging strategy, around those stolen documents? Mueller: Generally, that’s true. Schiff: And then they lied to cover it up? Mueller: Generally, that’s true.

A separate exchange with Nadler was equally astonishing:

Nadler: And your investigation actually found, quote, “multiple acts by the president that were capable of exerting undue influence over law-enforcement investigations, including the Russian interference and obstruction investigations.” Is that correct? Mueller: Correct. Nadler: Now, Director Mueller, can you explain in plain terms what that finding means so the American people can understand it? Mueller: Well, the finding indicates that the president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed. Nadler: In fact, you were talking about incidents, quote, “in which the president sought to use his official power outside of usual channels,” unquote, to exert undue influence over your investigations—is that right? Mueller: That’s correct.

The first exchange confirms that, despite the president’s insistence that there was “no collusion,” his campaign actually built its strategy around exploiting Russian interference. Mueller either lacked sufficient evidence to bring charges or concluded that the campaign’s conduct, however improper, did not violate federal criminal law. The second made clear that the president’s efforts to hamper the inquiry did not result in an obstruction charge not because of a lack of evidence or a lack of criminal violations, but because of Justice Department rules forbidding the prosecution of a sitting president.