By Veronica Rocha, Meg Wagner and Amanda Wills, CNN
From CNN's Sam Fossum and Tara Subramaniam
Before he began taking questions, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller said that his testimony would "be limited" and he promised to stick to the text of his report.
He seems to be sticking to that promise.
Mueller so far has told members of Congress to refer to the report in answering questions at least 28 times.
He has also deflected or declined to answer at least three additional times, saying he would have to check on that or look more closely at the statute.
We just returned from a five-minute break. But Robert Mueller's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee is not over just yet.
He has about another hour and a half left.
After Mueller wraps up his testimony, the House Intelligence Committee will question him at noon.
From CNN's Jeremy Herb
Robert Mueller declined to engage with the Republican lawmaker who launched one of the most personal attacks at the special counsel at the hearing so far:
"And if somebody knows they did not conspire with anybody from Russia to affect the election and they see the big justice department with people that hate that person coming after him and then a special counsel appointed who hires a dozen or more people that hate that person and he knows he's innocent, he's not corruptly acting in order to see that justice is done. What he's doing is not obstructing justice. He is pursuing justice. And the fact that you ran it out (GAVEL) ... two years means you perpetuated injustice."
After Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican accusing Mueller of having “perpetuated injustice” by running his investigation for two years, Chairman Jerry Nadler gave Mueller a chance to respond.
But Mueller deferred.
“I take your question,” he said, instead just moving onto the next lawmaker.
From CNN's Evan Perez and Jason Seher
Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller said that when he talked to the President on the FBI Director decision, he was not himself a candidate.
Rep. Louie Gohmert asked Mueller this today: "When you talked to President Trump the day before you were appointed as special counsel, you were talking to him about the FBI Director position, again, did he mention James Comey?"
"Not as a candidate," Mueller said.
Some context: Republicans and Trump have spent months claiming it’s a conflict for Mueller to have interviewed for the FBI job and then become special counsel. Trump has said that he rejected Mueller for the job.
Trump even tweeted this this morning:
CNN has been told that Mueller came in to provide advice on choosing an FBI director.
From CNN's David Shortell
Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch asked former special counsel Robert Mueller about President Trump's desire to fire him.
“Why did the President of the United States want you fired?” Deutch asked.
“I can’t answer that question,” Mueller responded.
Deutch went on to say that Mueller found evidence that the President wanted to fire him because he was investigating Trump for obstruction of justice.
"Isn't that correct?" the Florida lawmaker asked.
"That's what it says in the report. And yes I standby the report," Mueller said.
From CNN's David Shortell
Robert Mueller downplayed his relationship with former FBI director James Comey, denying they were “good friends,” as Rep. Louie Gohmert questioned him.
Mueller admitting only that they were “friends” and “business associates.”
“We both started off at the Justice Department about the same time,” Mueller said.
Mueller said he had not spoken with Comey in the six months before he was appointed special counsel in 2017.
There are multiple screens in the room today.
One is in front of special counsel Robert Mueller, and it is showing quotes from his report.
There is also a larger screen behind Mueller, which is also displaying lines from the Mueller report.
Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen asked former Special Counsel Robert Mueller about former Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
Mueller said it is true that his investigation found that Trump asked Sessions to un-recuse himself at least twice.
Here's the exchange:
Cohen: "Your investigation found at some point after your appointment the President, quote, called Sessions at his home and asked if he would un-recuse himself. Is not not true?"
Mueller: "It's true."
Cohen: "It wasn't the first time the president asked sessions to un-recuse himself, was it?"
Mueller: "I know of two occasions."
Cohen went on to ask Mueller if the attorney general is supposed to act as "the attorney general of the United States of America or a consigliere for the President?"
"The United States of America," Mueller responded.
Here's how Cohen concluded his questioning:
"Regardless of all that, I want to thank you, Director Mueller, for a life of rectitude and service to our country. It's clear from your report and the evidence that the President wanted former Attorney General Sessions to violate the Justice Department ethics rules by taking over your investigation and improperly interfering with it to protect himself and his campaign. Your findings are so important because in America nobody is above the law."
From CNN's Pamela Brown and Marshall Cohen
Rep. John Ratcliffe referred to this section in his remarks at today's hearing:
"At the conclusion of the Special Counsel's work, he or she shall provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel."
There’s a lot of debate about what the regulations allow and there are different interpretations.
Critics believe former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal was trying to rewrite history with the regulations to allow for more to be released.
Only two people have served as special counsel under these regulations. And both of their reports were publicly released, even though public release of the report is not mentioned or required in the regulations.
The rules are different than those that former independent counsel Ken Starr was working under in the mid-1990s when he prosecuted the Clinton White House over Whitewater and then the Monica Lewinsky scandal and delivered a report directly to Congress.
The first was Jack Danforth, appointed in 1999 to investigate the deadly Waco standoff and allegations of a government coverup. His team didn't wait around for Justice Department higher-ups to examine their final product. They posted their full report directly onto the burgeoning Internet, along with hundreds of pages of detailed exhibits and timelines.
Mueller’s report was also released but he submitted it to the Justice Department and Attorney General William Barr for redactions. Barr ultimately released a report that only had some light redactions.