Robert Mueller has defended the findings from his report about Russian interference in the 2016 election in one of the most hotly anticipated appearances on Capitol Hill.

In back-to-back testimony before two committees of the House of Representatives, the former special counsel may have not greatly changed the likelihood of whether or not Donald Trump will face impeachment.

But over the course of more than five hours of testimony, he refuted the president’s frequent claims he was cleared from obstruction of justice charges, confirmed Mr Trump had asked a former White House counsel to lie on his behalf, and said it was “generally true” the president’s sworn answers to him were incomplete and untruthful.

The president later claimed it was a great day for him and the Republicans, even though much of Mr Mueller’s testimony was utterly damning. “We had a very good day today,” said the president. “There was no defence of what Robert Mueller was trying to defend. There was no defence to this ridiculous hoax, this witch hunt.”

Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic House Judiciary chairman, asked Mr Mueller: “The president has repeatedly claimed that your report found that there was no obstruction and that it completely and totally exonerated him. But that is not what your report said is it?”

“Correct. It is not what the report said,” Mr Mueller told the committee.

“So the report did not conclude that he did not commit obstruction of justice? Is that correct,” the chairman asked.

“That is correct,” Mr Mueller replied.

Mr Mueller declined to implicate the president in any specific criminal act or indicate whether he would have charged Mr Trump with obstruction of justice if he were not currently the sitting president of the United States. Democrats repeatedly suggested the sole reason Mr Trump was not charged in the investigation was due to guidelines that said a sitting president cannot be indicted – a claim the former special counsel appeared to agree with when speaking to California Democrat Ted Lieu, before later retracting his comments in his second testimony on Wednesday.

Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 1 /12 Mueller investigation: The key figures Mueller investigation: The key figures Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS Mueller investigation: The key figures Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA Mueller investigation: The key figures Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

“Although Department policy barred you from indicting the president for this conduct, you made clear that he is not exonerated,” House judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler said in his opening statement. “Any other person who acted this way would have been charged with a crime. And in this nation, not even the president is above the law.”

Mr Mueller continued to make clear during his testimony on Wednesday that Mr Trump was not cleared of obstruction of justice, saying at one point, “The president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed.”

He also noted his team did not “address ‘collusion,’ which is not a legal term,” during his opening remarks.

The former special counsel’s 448-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election did not fully exonerate the president as Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed. “If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” the report reads. “We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime.”

On Wednesday, Mr Mueller made clear that Mr Trump could still face obstruction of justice charges when he is no longer president.

“Under Department of Justice policy, the president could be prosecuted for obstruction of justice crimes after he leaves office, correct?” Mr Nadler asked.

“True,” Mr Mueller replied.

The former special counsel also described in detail Russia’s “sweeping and systematic” efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. He said he did not find sufficient evidence to connect the president to these efforts in a criminal conspiracy.

Trump ordered former White House counsel to lie, Mueller confirms

Before Mr Mueller arrived at Capitol Hill on Wednesday for his back-to-back testimonies before Congressional committees, over 80 House Democrats expressed support for launching an impeachment inquiry into the president.

It remains unclear for now whether the former special counsel’s public testimony will increase calls for impeachment across Washington and beyond. An NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll published on 14 July showed 21 per cent of registered voters felt Congress had enough evidence to begin impeachment hearings.

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Mr Trump launched a series of attacks against the former special counsel on Twitter ahead of his public testimony on Wednesday, writing, “So why didn’t the highly conflicted Robert Mueller investigate how and why Crooked Hillary Clinton deleted and acid washed 33,000 Emails immediately AFTER getting a SUBPOENA from the United States Congress? She must have GREAT lawyers!”