WASHINGTON – Former special counsel Robert Mueller made his long-anticipated appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to discuss his findings from a nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Mueller was appointed in May 2017 to look into the Kremlin's efforts to sway the outcome of the presidential election and any possible coordination between the Russian government and the campaign of President Donald Trump.

His report, which he submitted to Attorney General William Barr in March, documented a "sweeping and systematic" interference campaign by the Russian government. He concluded that "the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome." The Trump campaign, the report said, "expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts" but did not find evidence that the campaign "conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."

Mueller also presented facts outlining potential acts of obstruction of justice committed by Trump. Regarding those acts, he said that while his report "did not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Since the release of the report, Democrats have called for Mueller to further discuss his findings in public testimony. In his opening remarks Wednesday, Mueller made it clear that he did not intend to say anything he had not already laid out in the report.

"As I said on May 29: the report is my testimony. And I will stay within that text," Mueller said.

A 'most serious' threat to democracy:Robert Mueller testifies before House on Trump, Russia

Read his opening remarks here:

Good morning Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Collins, and members of the Committee. As you know, in May 2017, the Acting Attorney General asked me to serve as Special Counsel. I undertook that role because I believed that it was of paramount interest to the nation to determine whether a foreign adversary had interfered in the presidential election. As the Acting Attorney General said at the time, the appointment was “necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome.” My staff and I carried out this assignment with that critical objective in mind: to work quietly, thoroughly, and with integrity so that the public would have full confidence in the outcome. The order appointing me as Special Counsel directed our Office to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. This included investigating any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign. It also included investigating efforts to interfere with, or obstruct, the investigation. Throughout the investigation, I continually stressed two things to the team that we had assembled. First, we needed to do our work as thoroughly as possible and as expeditiously as possible. It was in the public interest for our investigation to be complete, but not to last a day longer than necessary. Second, the investigation needed to be conducted fairly and with absolute integrity. Our team would not leak or take other actions that could compromise the integrity of our work. All decisions were made based on the facts and the law. During the course of our investigation, we charged more than 30 defendants with committing federal crimes, including 12 officers of the Russian military. Seven defendants have been convicted or pled guilty. Certain of the charges we brought remain pending today. For those matters, I stress that the indictments contain allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. In addition to the criminal charges we brought, as required by Justice Department regulations, we submitted a confidential report to the Attorney General at the conclusion of the investigation. The report set forth the results of our work and the reasons for our charging and declination decisions. The Attorney General later made the report largely public. As you know, I made a few limited remarks about our report when we closed the Special Counsel’s Office in May of this year. There are certain points that bear emphasis. First, our investigation found that the Russian government interfered in our election in sweeping and systematic fashion. Second, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government in its election interference activities. We did not address “collusion,” which is not a legal term. Rather, we focused on whether the evidence was sufficient to charge any member of the campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy. It was not. Third, our investigation of efforts to obstruct the investigation and lie to investigators was of critical importance. Obstruction of justice strikes at the core of the government’s effort to find the truth and to hold wrongdoers accountable. Finally, as described in Volume 2 of our report, we investigated a series of actions by the President towards the investigation. Based on Justice Department policy and principles of fairness, we decided we would not make a determination as to whether the President committed a crime. That was our decision then and it remains our decision today.