The FBI's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence during the 2016 election has entered a new phase. Deputy Attorney General Rod. J. Rosenstein said former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been named special counsel to oversee the Trump-Russia probe. Mr. Mueller will have the power to empanel a grand jury (via NBC News):
Bowing to public and Congressional pressure, Deputy U.S.
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Bob Mueller on
Wednesday to be a special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russian
interference in the 2016 campaign, Justice Department officials said.
Mueller will take command of the prosecutors and FBI
agents who are working on the far reaching Russia investigation, which spans
multiple FBI field offices on both coasts.
Mr. Rosenstein’s
statement on the appointment via Politico:
Based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest
requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who
exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command. A special
counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence
in the outcome. Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the Public must
be assured that government officials administer the law fairly."
President Trump Responds: Mueller Will Find No Collusion
As Special Counselor
By Katie Pavlich
"As I have stated
many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know – there
was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. I look
forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never
stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of
our country," Trump said Wednesday evening.
According to reports the
White House was unaware a special counselor would be appointed and found out
about the decision just moments before it was publicly announced.
______________________
Ronald Kessler Praises Mueller for Probe:
'Man of High Integrity'
By Todd Beamon
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is "a man of high
integrity, a man of great courage" who will not "put up with any
impediments" to his probe of alleged Russian ties to President Donald
Trump's campaign, best-selling political author Ronald Kessler told
Newsmax on Wednesday.
"You couldn't pick a better person to lead this
investigation," Kessler, who has interviewed Mueller for three of his
books on the FBI, told Newsmax in an exclusive interview.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein named Mueller, who oversaw the FBI during the 9/11
attacks, as independent counsel amid growing calls by Republicans and Democrats
in the wake of Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey last week.
"All sides admire Mueller as a straight-shooter, as
someone who has turned the FBI into a very powerful anti-terrorism force after
9/11," Kessler told Newsmax. "The reason why we haven't had a major
successful terrorist attack is because of the changes that Mueller made in the
FBI to protect us."
"It is a brilliant stroke" by Rosenstein to
"diminish the criticism of what Trump has been receiving," he said.
"Neither side can legitimately criticize the Trump
White House or the Trump Justice Department in the future because Mueller is in
charge of the investigation."
Mueller, 72, took over the FBI one week to the day before
the 9/11 attacks, stepping down in 2013. He was nominated by former President
George W. Bush and had briefly served as a deputy attorney general.
A graduate of the University of Virginia Law School,
Mueller served as a U.S. attorney under Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill
Clinton. He also was an assistant attorney general under President George H.W.
Bush.
"He has tremendous grasp of the FBI and how it works,"
Kessler told Newsmax. "The FBI is so complex that it takes years for a new
person to learn it."
Alluding to President Trump's reason for dismissing
Comey, Kessler said of Mueller: "As a former Marine, he is not a showboat.
"He really hates publicity. When he testifies, you
can't detect any real emotion in his testimony.
"I can't think of anyone better suited to lead this
effort," he added. "The FBI will investigate it, and he will be
overseeing any prosecutions."
Kessler was fully confident that Mueller would be
independent in his inquiry and his findings.
"This removes any cloud over this entire Russia
investigation," he said. "It will remove any potential ammunition by
the Democrats.
"We will have an independent investigation that will
bring out the facts — and that's it."
Kessler told Newsmax that in preparing for his 2011 book
— "The Secrets of the FBI" — he learned
Mueller had received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service in
Vietnam.
Kessler had to obtain the specifics through a Freedom of
Information Act request.
"He was so modest that he didn't want to talk about
it," Kessler said.
Mueller served as an officer in the Marine Corps for
three years, leading a rifle platoon in Vietnam. His other military honors
included two Commendation Medals and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.
Regarding the Moscow investigation, Kessler said Trump's
order in April to unleash 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Syria — a response to
President Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons — was "against
Russia's interests."
"The bottom line is that he is not in bed with the
Russians," he said. "That should tell people that a lot of the
hysteria about Russia is fiction."
_______________________
Kessler: Trump and FBI Probe Nothing Like Watergate
By Bill Hoffmann
A private chat President Donald Trump had with FBI
director James Comey about ending an FBI probe is nothing at all like the
Watergate scandal that sank Richard Nixon, veteran investigative reporter and
bestselling political author Ronald Kessler tells Newsmax TV.
"When it comes to the Comey material, these
comparisons to Watergate are a joke," Kessler said Wednesday on Newsmax's
"America Talks Live" with Bill Tucker.
"Trump did not take any action to interrupt the
investigation. He allegedly asked if it could be stopped, but that's quite
different from actually obstructing justice, which is what happened in
Watergate."
On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that before Trump
fired Comey saying he was no longer trustworthy, he had asked the FBI chief to
drop an investigation into national security adviser Mike Flynn.
"Richard Nixon, the president, made up some story about
the CIA keeping secrets and therefore the FBI should not continue the Watergate
investigation. That was obstruction of justice. Also, Nixon fired the Watergate
special prosecutor. That was obstruction of justice," said Kessler, who
worked at The Washington Post.
"I remember sitting near [Watergate reporter Bob]
Woodward when he came over and told me that he found out that E. Howard Hunt,
one of the Watergate plotters, had an office in the White House. He was
absolutely astounded.
"That's the kind of real Watergate that these people
have no idea what they're talking about when they compare it to Donald
Trump."
Kessler, author of the book, "The First Family
Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the HiddenLives of the Presidents,"
published by Crown Forum, also points out that Comey hadn't revealed his
conversation with Trump earlier.
"That's the bottom line, the fact that he didn't
report it indicates that he didn't feel it was obstruction of justice and it
wasn't, by any definition," Kessler said.
Newsmax TV video of Kessler interview
