Robert Mueller deflected. He demurred. Whenever possible, he kept his answers monosyllabic—”yes” or “no.”

For much of Wednesday morning, Mueller was a reticent, and reluctant, witness. For hours, Democrats and Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee tried to prod the former special counsel to say something, anything, beyond the exhaustive 448-page report his office prepared summarizing the two-year Russia investigation. Again and again, Mueller referred them to the report.