This week, House speaker Nancy Pelosi stood before reporters in the US Capitol and called for patience.

Just days after the the Trump administration showed its disdain for congress by refusing to honour a subpoena for the full Mueller report and its underlying evidence, Ms Pelosi channelled the Philadelphia 76ers NBA team and asked America to trust the process.

With congressional investigations already under way, the House speaker claimed the goal is uncovering truth, and that it will take time for Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee – whose spurned subpoenas have led to contempt charges against attorney general William Barr – to set up a case against Donald Trump, should one be warranted.

And, as if announcing the world’s most obvious trap, Ms Pelosi continued to outline just how Mr Trump might help that process along.

“Every day they are advertising obstruction of justice by ignoring subpoenas and by just declaring that people shouldn’t come and speak to congress so that the American people can find out the truth about the Russian disruption of our election so that it doesn’t happen again,” Ms Pelosi said.

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

The dismissal of the subpoenas has already set several processes into motion, but Democrats have largely resisted impeachment so far. The House, following the subpoena refusal earlier this week, swiftly initiated contempt charges against Mr Barr – a charge that would make the attorney general just the second man in his position to be hit with the symbolic mark on his record.

But, with those threats in mind, the Trump administration has held fast, declaring executive privilege over the entire Mueller report, which Mr Barr has attempted to portray as conclusive in finding that the president and his campaign did no wrong in 2016.

There’s one more concern, too, and that’s whether special counsel Robert Mueller himself will testify before the House. Mr Trump, for his part, has oscillated on the issue, saying at times that he doesn’t know if Mr Mueller should testify, while at other times saying it is either a bad idea or a great idea.

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Richard Ben-Veniste, a former Watergate prosecutor, told The Independent that any effort to keep Mr Mueller from testifying is likely to fail. And, the more it looks like Mr Trump and his team are resisting that effort – resisting the effort for Americans to hear “the truth”, as Ms Pelosi might put it – the more it will hurt the 45th president.

“I think ultimately Robert Mueller will testify, and that the more the president and his attorney general seek to delay or derail Mueller’s public testimony the more of a political price it will pay in the court of public opinion where people will be asking the logical question: what is the president hiding?” Mr Ben-Veniste said.

He continued: “Why does he fear Mr Mueller’s testimony before a congressional committee that obviously has the ability to provide bipartisan questioning?”

For her part, Ms Pelosi noted that those Watergate investigations into Richard Nixon also took time. Presidents aren’t impeached overnight, just like the Philadelphia 76ers didn’t build itself into a playoff calibre team overnight.