Robert Mueller is right choice to lead probe

The probe into the Trump administration’s alleged ties with Russia and interference in the presidential election screams out for an impartial, independent investigation. The Justice Department’s decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate the issue is the next best thing. This issue has become such a distraction that it’s essential to find out the truth.

The sooner the better. The selection of former FBI Director Robert Mueller III to serve as the special counsel lends additional credibility to the decision. He has a strong background in law enforcement and investigation and is respected on both sides of the political aisle.

Besides transforming the FBI into much more of an international investigative agency, Mueller worked on the investigation of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland and directed the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing. Since leaving the FBI he has been involved in managing the litigation against Volkswagen over its emissions and oversaw the dispersal of restitution money in the Takata air-bag case.

That resume should make it easier for each side to accept, however grudgingly, the integrity of the results when Mueller offers them.

Mueller was selected for the job by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has assumed control of the department’s investigation of these allegations because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from involvement in these matters based on his own limited connections with Russia.

Rosenstein made it clear in his statement that he was not appointing a special counsel because he had already found “that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted.” He said that because of the “unique circumstances” he felt such an investigation should be “under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command.”

To be fair, he had no other choice. Donald Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey made that clear. The legal memo written by Rosenstein and the subsequent emergence of Comey’s notes that said Trump had tried to convince Comey to close down the Russia investigation eliminated any alternative.

Mueller will have broad investigatory powers, but it’s especially unfortunate that the results may not be revealed to the public if his probe fails to result in an indictment. The public deserves to know the extent of Trump’s ties to Russia and how they related to the election.

Trump, predictably, lashed out at the decision to appoint Mueller, but the truth is, if there is nothing to hide, Trump should welcome this investigation because the sooner it’s over, the sooner he and the country can move on.

The longer it languishes, however, the closer we get to mid-term elections that could be influenced dramatically by such uncertainty.