Even in peak form, Mueller was not an effusive witness. According to several people who used to work for him, he was not in peak form Wednesday. He said up front that he would not go beyond the language of
his 448-page report. But he declined even to read passages of the report. And, surprisingly, he did not seem conversant in the details of his investigation, repeatedly referring questioners to the language of the report without saying in his own words what it meant.
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"Bob Mueller is struggling," tweeted Glenn Kirschner, who once worked for him as a prosecutor. "It strikes me as a health issue. We need only look at footage of his earlier congressional appearances to see the dramatic difference in his demeanor and communicative abilities."
"It's painful to watch," tweeted Mimi Rocah, an NBC News analyst and former federal prosecutor.