A former FBI chief was tasked Wednesday with leading a beefed-up investigation into whether Donald Trump’s team colluded with Russia to tilt the 2016 election in the president’s favour.
Trump responded by once again denying any links to Moscow, but the appointment of a special counsel with sweeping powers dramatically raises the stakes in a crisis threatening to paralyse his presidency.
The Republican leader, who has struggled to shake off suspicions that Russia helped put him in the White House, has been accused of seeking to block the investigation by sacking FBI chief James Comey.
Under pressure to provide guarantees to Congress and the public that the Russia probe will continue unhindered, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tapped Robert Mueller, a widely respected figure who headed the FBI for the decade after the 9/11 attacks, to take over the reins.
A New York-born Vietnam war vet aged 72, Mueller has a reputation as a tough lawman who once even stood up to a president.
He will head up the FBI’s ongoing probe of “Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters,” with the authority to prosecute crimes unearthed by the investigation.
Political dramaCapping days of political drama in Washington, Mueller’s appointment came as Trump fends off a stunning series of allegations including claims he shared US secrets with Russian officials in the Oval Office.
Pressure has spiked in Congress for an independent probe into ties between Trump’s campaign and Moscow, which US intelligence chiefs accuse of interfering to sway the election in Trump’s favour.
A special counsel is empowered to conduct the investigation independent of the Justice Department hierarchy, with a dedicated staff of his choosing. The counsel is not required to consult with or keep informed the Justice Department on the course of the probe.
Robert Muller
AFPMueller is specifically empowered to examine “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.”
Calls for the Russia probe to be placed in independent hands intensified this week following reports that Trump urged Comey to reel back its investigation of Michael Flynn, the national security advisor fired for not telling the truth about contacts he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington before Trump took power.
The New York Times reported late Wednesday that Flynn told the president-elect’s transition team in early January that he was the subject of a federal investigation, but was hired for the highly sensitive national security adviser position anyway.
Flynn ended up being fired from the position after just 24 days.
