Donald Trump is fighting tooth and nail to prevent Robert Mueller or any of his witnesses from testifying publicly before Congress, just as he is fighting to keep his taxes from public view.  What does he fear?  Exposure of his criminal activities? Embarrassment that he will not seen as being as tough or rich as he likes to project? That his life is one big lie, starting with his daily tweets?  Here is a taste of one scenario that could play out as a Trump nightmare.

Chair: Mr. Mueller, thank you for testifying today.  Let’s get right to the heart of it.  What is your political affiliation?

Mueller: Republican.

Chair: You’re not a Democrat?

Mueller: No.

Chair: And your staff?

Mueller: I never asked them and it wasn’t a factor in their selection, but I believe most are Republicans.

Chair: Are you angry?

Mueller: Excuse me?

Chair: Trump has accused you of being an “Angry Democrat” leading a rogue band of Angry Democrats.

Mueller: No. Not particularly.  At least until Bill Barr totally distorted the findings of my report.

Chair: Did the President’s attacks on you make you angry?

Mueller: I didn’t really pay attention to them.  I prefer to deal in facts.

Chair: Was your investigation a “witch hunt”?

Mueller: No.

Chair: But you didn’t find conspiracy between Trump and Russia.

Mueller: But there were certainly signs that it should be investigated.

Chair: The Steele Dossier?

Mueller: No, intelligence from our allies. Odd contacts between Trump Campaign officials and the Russians, and the fact that the Russians did interfere in our election for the benefit of Trump.

Chair: Did you find evidence the President tried to obstruct justice?

Mueller: Yes, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?

Chair: Why didn’t you explicitly state that in your report?

Mueller: I laid it all out for you. DOJ Policy prohibits indicting a sitting president.  The remedy is for Congress.  Impeachment.

Chair: So you think Congress should impeach based on the evidence you found?

Mueller: Yes, of course.

Chair: So you don’t agree with the characterization of Trump and Barr that Democrats in Congress are just seeking a “do over” of your investigation because you didn’t give them the result they wanted?

Mueller: No, of course not.  If DOJ does not allow a President to be indicted and says the remedy is impeachment by Congress, if Congress uses the evidence to impeach the President, that is exactly the way DOJ says the process should play out.

Chair: Don’t you think it’s a little shaky to impeach the President just on obstruction of justice, without any underlying crime?  After all the Attorney General says Trump was understandably upset with the investigation if there was no conspiracy with Russia.

Mueller: First, we didn’t find that there was no conspiracy.  Just that it would be difficult to prove. Second, are they now saying it’s the President who was angry – not us??

Chair: But what about the lack of an underlying crime that you would charge Trump with?

Mueller: Well, I didn’t investigate the Emoluments Clause violations or the various Trump Organization financial crimes that I referred to the Southern District of New York.

Chair: So you think there are crimes there?

Mueller: No doubt.  That guy is dirtier than a Port Authority Bus Terminal men’s room.  And on the subject of obstruction, don’t forget that that’s one of the articles of impeachment against Nixon and Bill Clinton.  There are prominent Republican senators who voted for were in Congress who voted for impeachment of Clinton on just that issue.

Chair: Do you really think they’ll vote consistently with that?

Mueller: I can’t predict what they will do.  I can only say what they should do.