Adam Schiff personally asked Mueller to testify before Congress but thought it was 'heartbreaking' when he struggled to answer questions: book

• Adam Schiff sent Mueller a handwritten note asking him to testify before Congress in 2019, Schiff wrote in an upcoming book.
• But Schiff thought it was "heartbreaking" to watch Mueller testify before the House Judiciary Committee.
• He then instructed members of his committee to overhaul their own strategy and not ask long, multipart questions.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sent the special counsel Robert Mueller a handwritten note asking him to testify before Congress after submitting his final report on the Russia probe.

That's according to Schiff's upcoming book, "Midnight in Washington," an advance copy of which was obtained by CNN.

Schiff reportedly writes that even though he sent Mueller a personal note requesting his July 2019 testimony, he found it "heartbreaking" when Mueller struggled to answer basic questions.

The special counsel testified in two sessions before the House judiciary and intelligence committees on July 24 about his findings in the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 US election. Mueller's testimony was widely anticipated and got wall-to-wall media coverage, but he drew criticism for declining or deflecting dozens of questions - 198 times, per NBC News' tally - and for asking lawmakers to repeat their questions on several occasions.

"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 forthcoming book, according to CNN. The California Democrat added that after watching Mueller's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, he instructed Democrats on the intelligence committee to overhaul their questioning strategy for the second session that afternoon.

"No questions calling for a narrative answer," Schiff wrote that he told the committee, per CNN. "No multipart questions. If you think your question may be too long, it is. Cut it down."

Mueller did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Although the special counsel was criticized for his halting testimony, legal scholars said he'd already said everything he needed to say through the 448-page report his office released detailing its findings in the Russia inquiry.

Mueller's team did not charge former President Donald Trump or anyone on his campaign with conspiring with the Russian government during the 2016 election, but prosecutors noted that the campaign "expected it would benefit" from Russia's interference.

The second part of Mueller's investigation looked into whether Trump obstructed justice in the course of the Russia probe. The special counsel declined to make a "traditional prosecutorial judgment" on whether or not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice, citing a 1973 Justice Department memo saying that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime.

However, the special counsel's team said that "if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state."

The team continued: "Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment."

Mueller drove that point home in his testimony, telling lawmakers, "The president was not exculpated."

Trump, for his part, has repeatedly called the Russia investigation a "hoax" and a politically motivated "witch hunt." He also said the special counsel was "horrible" in his testimony and said it was a "good day" for Republicans.