The Mueller Report Community Discussion Series met for its final session on Sunday, July 28, to discuss Mueller’s testimony before Congress, which he gave on Wednesday, July 24.
Lawyer Maggie Middleton returned to help participants dissect the testimony, answering their questions about the legal interpretations of Mueller’s hearing.
The group started one of the longest discussions of the series by questioning whether Mueller’s terse language at his hearing gave the public the information they needed. This sparked questions about Attorney General William Barr, the possibility of an impeachment hearing, the redacted sections of the report and more.
Of course, the discussion came around to the president himself. The group took issue with Trump establishing his own narratives, often to undermine institutions like the Department of Justice.
“If we do not have a narrative of truth being frequent and loud, it is the loudest and most frequent – whatever that is – that will be most likely believed,” said participant Helene Marotta. “So, what is our response to that?”
Participants broke up to discuss what next steps they could take. They suggested calling representatives and encouraging voter registration, as well as reaching out to the media. Participant Mary Moore said she sent a description of the discussion series to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
“I’m really tired of the media constantly saying nobody’s going to read the report,” Moore said. “I wanted her to know that people are reading it, they’re discussing it vigorously, and if the media could switch that story and highlight some of these efforts across the country to read the report, it might at least start to change people’s ideas that, ‘Well, maybe it’s something that I could do.’”
What participants wanted most at the beginning of the series was answers. Whether they found them in the report or only left with more questions, a sense of engagement prevailed.
“As someone else said earlier, this is participatory democracy,” said participant Roberta Fernandez.
