https://archive.is/o4qRw

Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, opened up about Robert Mueller's "heartbreaking" lack of acuity in a forthcoming book, which includes revelations about the special counsel appointed during the Trump-Russia probe.

Mueller, now 76, was appointed special counsel in May 2017 after former President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Although Schiff writes that he pursued Mueller to deliver his July 2019 testimony, the reality was "heartbreaking" to Schiff when he struggled to answer basic questions.

"Had I known how much he had changed, I would not have pursued his testimony with such vigor — in fact, I would not have pursued it at all," Schiff wrote in his upcoming book Midnight in Washington, according to CNN. Schiff, a California Democrat who became a liberal champion during the first impeachment probe and an enemy to conservatives who parroted Trump's rebuff of a "Russia hoax," admitted that he instructed Democrats on the committee to simplify their questioning strategy after the first session to accommodate Mueller's cognitive inhibitions.

"No questions calling for a narrative answer," Schiff told the committee, according to his book. "No multipart questions. If you think your question may be too long, it is. Cut it down."

The leading special counsel ultimately did not issue a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, leaving it to then-Attorney General William Barr to decide.

Mueller's team did not charge Trump or anyone on his campaign with conspiring with the Russian government during the 2016 election. Still, prosecutors said the campaign "expected it would benefit" from Russia's interference in the election. In his testimony, Mueller underscored, "The president was not exculpated."

Trump touted Mueller's testimony as "horrible." "I don't think anybody could have done a good performance, he had no material," the former president said on July 24, 2019. The former president was impeached in the House on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress but was acquitted in the Senate on Feb. 5, 2020.