Former FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony on Wednesday before the U.S. House Judiciary and Intelligence committees qualified as high political drama — broadcast live to the nation — but there was no new information, no revelations or exploding bombshells.

For the Democrats and other anti-Trump forces it was a waste of time. For the Republicans it was a waste of time. Mueller’s 400-page plus report on Russia/Trump Campaign collusion showed no collusion took place. On the issue of obstruction of justice — on the part of President Donald Trump — Mueller’s report made no conclusions and left that gray area up to the U.S. Congress to decide.

After Mueller’s testimony and the release of Mueller’s report last May the anti-Trump forces are no closer to removing President Trump from office. The Democrats on both committees kept trying to get the former FBI director to reveal new information but Mueller resisted those questions with such answers as “That’s outside my purview,” “Those matters are being handled by the Department of Justice,” “I refer to the report on that,” “I can’t get into that” and “I don’t remember.”

According to a count by NBC News, Mueller bobbed and weaved on questions 198 times during the two three-hour hearings.

There were no winners coming out of Wednesday’s congressional hearings. Not even President Trump can claim much of a win except that the Democrats are spinning their wheels in their attempts to derail the Trump presidency. So far President Trump is safe. The impeachment fever is over except for the weird far-left Democratic extremists who will not ever stop stalking and harassing this president.

The biggest loser — after these hearings — is the public perception of the U.S. House of Representatives. Once again voters witnessed the incumbents they elected doing nothing for American citizens. It is interesting to note that the corresponding U.S. Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees did not request or subpoena Mueller to appear before them. They accepted the Mueller report as it was written and its conclusions, but not those two house committee chairmen — Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Nadler and Schiff both have gone off the deep end in their dreary obsessions with removing President Trump from office.

Because Mueller referred so many questions from the committee members to the U.S. Department of Justice, these hearings have now set the stage for a heightened awareness of future investigative reports expected to come from U.S. Attorney General William Barr and DOJ’s Inspector General Michael Horowitz in the coming months.

Barr and Horowitz are looking into matters far beyond Mueller’s report such as the FBI and the DOJ’s actions during and after Campaign 2016 and just how did this Russia/Trump investigation begin? Let there be no doubt that sparks will fly between now and the end of the year. These sparks will set off a string of explosions or indictments that will make Washington’s head spin around and many hidden truths will be revealed. Indictments lead to “not guilty” pleas and federal court trials that may take place next year during Campaign 2020.

It was sad to see Mueller, 74, a former decorated Vietnam Marine veteran, struggle with his answers. At times he seemed confused and frequently asked for questions to be repeated. Let’s hope Mr. Mueller can now go home and live his retirement life far from the maddening crowd.

About the Author Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member