Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made the appointment, amid calls for a special counsel.
The US Justice Department has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to oversee investigations into potential ties between associates of President Donald Trump and Russian operatives, the department announced in a statement on Wednesday.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made the appointment, amid calls for a special counsel after multiple revelations in recent days threatened to derail the investigation.
"My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted," Rosenstein said in the DOJ statement. "I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that 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.”
Multiple government bodies had been conducting inquiries into Russia's meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and potential instances of collusion between the Kremlin and Trump associates. The investigation is now completely in the hands of Special Counsel Mueller, who led the FBI for 12 years under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Mueller will oversee the FBI agents and prosecutors working on the Trump-Russia investigation.
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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made the appointment, amid calls for a special counsel. Read Full Story
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