Whitaker's intended audience was Trump, of course

Whitaker presented himself to Nadler, a 13-term congressman, with the same aloofness and disdain for tradition that often seems typical of the Trump White House. And that may have been on purpose. Whitaker, whose tenure ends when Bill Barr is confirmed as attorney general next week, will need a new job. He has reportedly been considered for the role of Trump’s chief of staff. And though he testified under oath that he had “not interfered in any way with the special counsel’s investigation,” he repeatedly declined to contradict Trump’s claims that Mueller is on a “witch hunt.”

[...]

Whitaker had a boilerplate response prepared for the myriad of questions posed by Democrats about the Mueller probe: “It would be inappropriate for me to talk about an ongoing investigation,” he said. Democrats, though, found that disingenuous—Whitaker had discussed the probe publicly earlier this month, going as far as to speculate that it would be wrapping up soon. During Friday’s highly contentious oversight hearing, he entertained a Republican’s inquiry about the way Trump’s longtime confidant Roger Stone had been arrested last month in Florida by the FBI—and why a reporter was staked out there in advance of the raid. “I share your concern with the possibility that a media outlet was tipped off to Mr. Stone’s either indictments or arrest before it was made,” Whitaker told Representative Doug Collins, acknowledging later that he had no inside information to suggest that the media outlet, CNN, had advance word of Stone’s arrest.

[...]

Whitaker told lawmakers that, despite a CNN report to the contrary, Trump had not “lashed out” about the investigation into his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen. And in contrast to his testimony that he had not discussed the Mueller investigation with Trump, Whitaker dodged questions about whether he had discussed the Cohen probe with the president. “As I've mentioned several times today, I'm not going to discuss my private conversations with the President,” he told Democratic Representative Val Demmings.

  The Atlantic

The Cohen probe mentioned here is the Southern District of New York case, generally viewd to be the more problematic investigation for Trump. And, it's been reported that Trump wanted Whitaker to rein it in - indeed, that he lashed out at Whitaker for not doing so.  Whitaker's choice to not "discuss" his conversations with Trump on that particular case is evidence that the reports are true.

Frank Figliuzzi, the former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, seemed shocked by Whitaker’s demeanor: “I am not kidding when I say I have interviewed terrorists who were more cooperative and respectful than Matt Whitaker was today,” Figliuzzi told MSNBC. “The attorney general’s role is America's lawyer, we are his client.”

Unfortunately, at Friday’s hearing, Figliuzzi said, “he treated us with utter disdain.”

Par for the Trumpland course.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Whitaker was seen at the Trump Hotel after his testimony.