Justice names special counsel
Ex-FBI chief Mueller will probe possible Trump-Russia ties
Washington — The Justice Department abruptly appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller Wednesday night as a special counsel to lead a federal investigation into allegations that Donald Trump’s campaign collaborated with Russia to sway the 2016 election that put him in the White House. Mueller will have sweeping powers and the authority to prosecute any crimes he uncovers.
The surprise announcement, the latest in the shock-a-day Washington saga, marked a concession by the Trump administration, which had resisted calls from Democrats to turn the investigation over to an outside prosecutor. The White House counsel’s office was alerted only after the order appointing Mueller was signed.
After the announcement, Trump insisted anew that there were no nefarious ties between his campaign and Russia.
“A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know — there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity,” he declared in a statement. “I look forward to this matter concluding quickly.”
The appointment increases the pressure on Trump and his associates. Mueller’s broad mandate gives him not only oversight of the Russia probe, but also “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.” That would surely include Trump’s firing last week of FBI Director James Comey.
Mueller, a former federal prosecutor at the Justice Department, was confirmed as FBI director days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that would ultimately shape his tenure. The FBI’s counterterror mission was elevated in those years, as the U.S. intelligence agencies adjusted to better position America to prevent another attack of such magnitude. He was so valued that President Barack Obama asked him to stay on two years longer than his 10-year term.
Comey succeeded him, appointed by Obama.
Mueller was appointed Wednesday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who had faced criticism as the author of a memo that preceded Comey’s firing. Rosenstein said the appointment was “necessary in order for the American
people to have full confidence in the outcome.”
Republicans have largely stood behind Trump in the first months of his presidency as FBI and congressional investigations into Russia’s election meddling intensified. But GOP lawmakers have grown increasingly anxious since Trump fired Comey, who had been leading the bureau’s probe — and after Comey associates said he had notes from a meeting in which Trump asked him to shut down the investigation into the Russia ties of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
First reactions from Congress were mainly positive.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said the appointment was consistent with his goal of ensuring that “thorough and independent investigations are allowed to follow the facts wherever they may lead.”
Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Mueller was a “great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted.”
And not a moment too soon, Democrats said.
“I believe Mueller will be independent, he will be thorough and he will be fair and he’s not going to be easily swayed,” said Elijah Cummings of Maryland, top Democrat on the oversight panel.
The latest political storm, coupled with the still-potent fallout from Trump’s recent disclosure of classified information to Russian diplomats, has overshadowed all else in the capital and beyond.