WASHINGTON: Special Counsel Robert Mueller's appearance in Congress next week to testify on the Russia election meddling investigation and allegations of obstruction by President Donald Trump has been postponed, US media reported Friday.

Mueller was scheduled to appear on July 17 before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees.

But media reports say the planned sessions were viewed as too short by members of the committees and that negotiations were underway for longer hearings, possibly on July 24.

Completed in March after a more than two-year investigation into Russian election meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the Mueller report documents numerous instances of attempted collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, but found no grounds for criminal conspiracy charges.

The report also listed ten occasions when Trump allegedly attempted to obstruct the investigation.

But Mueller refrained from recommending criminal charges against the president, saying he had no power to do so.

That led to Trump declaring that he had been fully cleared by the probe, while Democrats in Congress began calling for more investigations and impeachment, saying the report was evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

On May 29, in his only public comment since completing the report, Mueller said he had not exonerated Trump of obstruction of justice, but said Justice Department policy prevented him from charging the president.

On Friday, Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the committee is considering issuing articles of impeachment against Trump, but that "no final determination has been made." —AFP