10 of the biggest moments from more than five hours of Mueller's blockbuster congressional hearings

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Former Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller testifies before Congress on July 24, 2019, in Washington, DC.

• The former special counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress for the first time on Wednesday in two of the most highly anticipated hearings in recent memory.
• Mueller's brief and terse answers largely hewed closely to the 448-page report he submitted to Congress in late March and was made public a month later.
• But the hearing had several moments where lawmakers devolved into rants or offered stout defenses of Trump, while the tight-lipped Mueller broke his silence on issues like election interference.
• Here are 10 of the biggest moments of the Mueller hearings.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The former special counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress on Wednesday in two of the most highly anticipated hearings in recent memory.

Mueller's brief and terse answers largely hewed closely to the 448-page report he submitted to Congress in late March and was made public a month later.

Read more: We hired the author of 'Black Hawk Down' and an illustrator from 'Archer' to adapt the Mueller report so you'll actually read it

After a two-year investigation, the former special counsel found that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help elect President Donald Trump. Despite outlining 11 possible instances of obstruction of justice against Trump in the report, Mueller declined to charge Trump with a crime, citing longstanding Justice Department guidelines against indicting a sitting president.  

For more than two decades, Mueller - a lifelong Republican - forged a reputation as a fierce protector of law enforcement's political independence. And Mueller made clear in Wednesday's opening statement that he would not go beyond what he already laid out in his report. "The report is my testimony. And I will stay within that text," Mueller said.

Read more: Read Robert Mueller's opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee

Mueller testified before the House Judiciary Committee, which focused on possible obstruction of justice by Trump. Then he took questions from House Intelligence Committee on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats control both panels.

Yet the mostly calm hearings had several moments where lawmakers devolved into rants or offered stout defenses of Trump, while the tight-lipped Mueller broke his silence on issues like election interference.

Here are 10 of the biggest moments of the Mueller hearings.