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The 2017 Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice team is a group of attorneys and investigators led by special counsel Robert Mueller, assembled to probe the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and related matters.
Origin and powers
On May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller, a former Director of the FBI, to serve as special counsel for the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). In this capacity, Mueller oversees the investigation into "any links and/or coordination between Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation". As special counsel, Mueller has the power to issue subpoenas, hire staff members, request funding, and prosecute federal crimes in connection with the election interference.
The appointment followed a series of events which included President Trump's firing of FBI director Comey and Comey's allegation that Trump asked Comey to drop the investigation of his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
Rosenstein, in his role as Acting Attorney General due to the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has authority over the use of DOJ resources by Mueller and the investigation. In an interview with the Associated Press, Rosenstein said he would recuse from supervision of Mueller if he himself were to become a subject in the investigation due to his role in the dismissal of James Comey. If Rosenstein were to recuse, his duties in this matter would be assumed by the Justice Department's third-in-command, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand.
Team members
Politico reported that the "ideal team" would likely have six to eight prosecutors, along with administrative assistants and experts in areas such as money laundering or interpreting tax returns. By mid June, 2017, Mueller, who has an active role in managing the inquiry, hired thirteen lawyers, and was in the process of hiring more.
Members of the team include:
- Zainab Ahmad: assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York, specializing in terrorism cases
- Rush Atkinson: trial attorney in the DOJ fraud section
- Peter Carr: Team spokesman
- Michael Dreeben: Deputy Solicitor General, who oversees the Justice Department's criminal appellate docket; an expert in criminal law
- Andrew D. Goldstein: Former leader of the public corruption unit, Southern District of New York
- Adam Jed: Attorney in the DOJ Civil Division, appellate section
- Robert Mueller: Team leader; Special counsel for the United States Department of Justice
- Lisa C. Page: DOJ trial attorney in the FBI's Criminal Division Organized Crime Section; formerly an attorney in the office of the FBI general counsel
- Elizabeth Barchas Prelogar: Assistant with the solicitor general's office; fluent in Russian; former law clerk to Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan
- James L. Quarles III: Former assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force
- Jeannie Rhee: Partner at WilmerHale, specializing in white-collar crime; a former attorney in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia
- Brandon Van Grack: Justice Department national security division prosecutor
- Andrew Weissmann: Chief of the DOJ Criminal Division's Fraud Section
- Aaron Zebley: WilmerHale attorney, former chief of staff to Mueller at the FBI
Upon his appointment as Special Counsel, Mueller resigned from WilmerHale along with two colleagues, former FBI agent Aaron Zebley and former assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force James L. Quarles III. On May 23, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice ethics experts announced they had declared Mueller ethically able to function as special counsel.
Investigations
As part of the investigation, special prosecutor Robert Mueller assumed control of a Virginia-based grand jury criminal probe into the relationship between Flynn and Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin. Flynn Intel Group, an intelligence consultancy, was paid $530,000 by Alptekin’s company Inovo BV to produce a documentary and conduct research on Fethullah Gülen, an exiled Turkish cleric who lives in the United States.
Reactions
Mueller's appointment to oversee the investigation immediately garnered widespread support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Senator Charles Schumer (D–NY) said, "Former Director Mueller is exactly the right kind of individual for this job. I now have significantly greater confidence that the investigation will follow the facts wherever they lead." Senator Dianne Feinstein (D–CA) stated, "Bob was a fine U.S. attorney, a great FBI director and there’s no better person who could be asked to perform this function." She added, "He is respected, he is talented and he has the knowledge and ability to do the right thing."
Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara wrote of the team that "Bob Mueller is recruiting the smartest and most seasoned professionals who have a long track record of independence and excellence". Former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who had investigated Bill Clinton during the Clinton Administration, said that the team was "a great, great team of complete professionals".
Later on, conservatives, including political commentators Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (who had initially praised Mueller for "integrity and honesty"), stated that Mueller should be dismissed and the investigation closed. Christopher Ruddy, a friend of Trump, stated that he has considered firing Mueller.
On June 23, 2017, Trump stated that members of Mueller's team were "all Hillary Clinton supporters, some of them worked for Hillary Clinton." PolitiFact rated Trump's claim "Mostly False", noting that only three had made campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton and one had defended the Clinton Foundation in court. One member of the team had made contributions to Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz and Republican Senator George Allen.
See also
Portals:
- Cyberwarfare by Russia
- Foreign electoral intervention
- Impeachment of Bill Clinton
- Impeachment process against Richard Nixon
- Russian espionage in the United States
- Timeline of events related to Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election
References
- Rosenstein, Rod. "Rod Rosenstein's Letter Appointing Mueller Special Counsel". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- Kevin Johnson, Justice Department taps former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel for Russia investigation, USA Today (May 17, 2017).
- Tanfani, Joseph (May 17, 2017). "Former FBI Director Robert Mueller named special prosecutor for Russia investigation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
- Ruiz, Rebecca R. (May 17, 2017). "Robert Mueller, Former F.B.I. Director, Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- Gurman, Sadie; Tucker, Eric; Horwitz, Jeff (June 3, 2017). "Special counsel Mueller's investigation seems to be growing". AP News. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
I've talked with Director Mueller about this," Rosenstein said. "He's going to make the appropriate decisions, and if anything that I did winds up being relevant to his investigation then, as Director Mueller and I discussed, if there's a need from me to recuse, I will.
- Maizland, Lindsay (June 16, 2017). "Meet Rachel Brand, who may soon oversee the Trump-Russia investigation". Vox. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- ^ Samuelsohn, Darren (June 6, 2017). "Everything we know about the Mueller probe so far". Politico Magazine. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
- Williams, Pete (June 2, 2017), Special Counsel Robert Mueller Taking Close Control of Russia Investigation, NBC News
- ^ Karimi, Faith; Perez, Evan (June 16, 2017). "Robert Mueller expands special counsel office, hires 13 lawyers". CNN.
- Moore, Jack (June 7, 2017). "The Man Investigating Donald Trump's Russia Connections Is Assembling a Murderer's Row of Prosecutors". GQ. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
- ^ Jarrett, Laura; Perez, Evan (June 10, 2017). "Mueller staffing up Russia probe while Trump lawyer declares victory". CNN. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ Mauro, Tony (June 9, 2017). "Mueller Enlists Top Criminal Law Expert for Russia Probe". The National Law Journal. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
- ^ Graff, Garrett (June 14, 2017). "Robert Mueller Chooses His Investigatory Dream Team". Wired. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- ^ Zapotosky, Matt (July 5, 2017). "As Mueller builds his Russia special-counsel team, every hire is under scrutiny". The Washington Post.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Overley, Jeff (9 May 2016). "100 Oral Arguments: How A DOJ Atty Made High Court History". Law360. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- Weiser, Benjamin (June 30, 2017). "Manhattan Prosecutor Joins Inquiry Into Russian Meddling in Election". The New York Times. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
- Coyle, Marcia (22 June 2017). "Mueller Bolsters Russia Team's Appellate Readiness in New Hire". The National Law Journal. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- Mauro, Tony (June 19, 2017). "Mueller Recruits Another Lawyer from Solicitor General's Office to Russia Probe". The National Law Journal.
- Taylor, Jessica; Johnson, Carrie (2017-05-17). "Former FBI Director Mueller Appointed As Special Counsel To Oversee Russia Probe". NPR.
- Savage, Charlie (May 23, 2017), "Ethics experts clear special counsel in Russia investigation", The New York Times
- ^ Layne, Nathan; Hosenball, Mark; Ainsley, Julia Edwards (June 2, 2017). Krolicki, Kevin; Colvin, Ross (eds.). "Exclusive: Special counsel Mueller to probe ex-Trump aide Flynn's Turkey ties". Reuters.
Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible ties between the Trump election campaign and Russia, is expanding his probe to assume control of a grand jury investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, three sources told Reuters Federal prosecutors in Virginia are investigating a deal between Flynn and Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin as part of a grand jury criminal probe, according to a subpoena seen by Reuters.
- ^ "Rare bipartisan moment: Both sides embrace Robert Mueller as special counsel". USA Today. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
- Berman, Russell. "Mueller Pick Meets a Rare Bipartisan Consensus". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
- Swanson, Ian (2017-06-12). "The Memo: Trump allies turn fire on Mueller". TheHill. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- "Trump surrogates go after Mueller". Politico Magazine. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- "Newt Gingrich, Conservative Pundits Turn On Special Counsel Mueller". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- Carter, Brandon (2017-06-12). "Trump friend says president considering firing Mueller". The Hill. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
- Tobias, Manuela (June 26, 2017). "No, Mueller's staffers aren't all Hillary Clinton supporters". PolitiFact. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
External links
- "Joint Statement from the Department Of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security", October 7, 2016
- James Comey’s opening statement preceding the June 8, 2017 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing