Special Counsel, Robert Swan Mueller on Wednesday told congressional interrogators in Washington that United States President, Donald Trump could be indicted after he leaves office. 

Mueller said during the hearing that investigations revealed that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 US elections in a ‘sweeping and systematic fashion’.

In the televised hearing which Democrats hope will weaken Trump’s re-election prospects, Mueller also dismissed the President’s earlier claim of total exoneration, saying it was not what his Russia report revealed. 

Mueller, who served as the sixth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013 also disputed President Trump’s claim that he was rebuffed in a bid to fill the post of FBI director.

Facing questions from congressional lawmakers, Mueller said he spoke with Mr. Trump about the FBI job before he was named as special counsel but not as a candidate and that the Russians believed they would benefit from Trump winning the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller said his report did not conclude if Trump obstructed justice, adding that it did not also establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to meddle in the election. 

He however alleged that President Trump wanted to fire him because he was investigating obstruction of justice.

Mueller, who severally emphasized in his testimony that he did not consider it his team’s responsibility to determine whether Trump obstructed justice however laid out several instances in his report which may constitute obstruction of justice and left the decision  to Congress.

In response to a question from Representative Cedric Richmond, a Democrat from Louisiana, Mueller confirmed that Trump asked his staff to falsify records connected to the special counsel’s investigation.

Representative Martha Roby, a Republican from Alabama also repeatedly tried to press Mueller on his discussions with Attorney General William Barr after the completion of the special counsel’s investigation.

Democrats have criticized Barr for his characterization of Mueller’s report before the redacted version of it was publicly released, claiming that the Attorney General had purposely tried to craft a public impression more favorable to Trump than the details of the report actually allowed.

Trump has repeatedly claimed, even this morning that Mueller was highly conflicted in part because he applied to retake his post as FBI director. He however did not provide any evidence to support his claim. 

So far, most Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have used their time to question the scope of Mueller’s investigation and whether his probe followed the regulations of the country’s Justice Department.