"Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd Charles (Chuck) David ToddMurkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election Republican senator says plans to confirm justice before election 'completely consistent with the precedent' Sunday shows - Trump team defends coronavirus response MORE on Wednesday called former special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's testimony "a disaster" for Democrats from an optics perspective.

“On substance, the Democrats got what they wanted," Todd noted during a panel discussion anchored by NBC's Lester Holt.

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"They got him to confirm that he didn’t make a charge because of the Justice Department memo. He confirmed that you can still indict [President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE] on these charges after he leaves office. And he seemed to confirm the idea that under any other circumstance, he likely would have filed some charges."

“But he provided such, what do you call it, uncomfortable clarity?" Todd continued. "As they [Democrats] were using him for clarity, he’d somehow fog it up in how he’d do certain things. So look, on optics, this was a disaster,” Todd concluded.

The sentiment echoed remarks earlier by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace Christopher (Chris) WallaceGOP lawmakers distance themselves from Trump comments on transfer of power Trump mocks Biden for calling 'a lid' before 9 a.m. Trump claims Fox anchor Chris Wallace won't ask Biden 'tough questions' at debate MORE, who called the hearing "a disaster for the Democrats" and "for the reputation of Robert Mueller" during a discussion on the network that was retweeted by Trump.

Todd's argument saw some pushback from the left on social media, including by 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Seth Moulton Seth MoultonOvernight Defense: Nearly 500 former national security officials formally back Biden | 40 groups call on House panel to investigate Pentagon's use of coronavirus funds The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Markey defeats Kennedy; Trump lauds America's enforcers in Wisconsin Moulton fends off primary challenges in Massachusetts MORE (D-Mass).

"The constitution doesn’t say anything about optics," Moulton wrote to his 144,000 followers.

The constitution doesn’t say anything about optics. https://t.co/Mxbf1mBKZz — Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) July 24, 2019

Mueller's testimony to the House Intelligence Committee is expected to wrap up late Wednesday afternoon.