US Justice department names special counsel to probe Trump campaign Russia ties

WASHINGTON (TIP): The US Justice Department on May 17 independently named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russian officials, sending the four month old Presidency into a deeper crisis.

The appointment, apparently made by an independent-minded Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein without prior knowledge of or intimation to the White House, drew a sharp reaction from President Trump even as it gathered bipartisan support for its impartial nature given Mueller’s reputation as a fair investigator.

”This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” Trump complained in a Twitter post to much derision soon after the Justice Department announcement. He pointed out that ”With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel (sic) appointed!”

The announcement of a special counsel came amid new reports that the Trump campaign had at least 18 previously undisclosed contacts with Russian officials in the seven months prior to the 2016 Presidential elections. Conversations between disgraced and fired National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak accelerated after the November 8 vote as the two discussed establishing a back channel for communication between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could bypass the U.S. national security bureaucracy, which both sides considered hostile to improved relations, Reuters reported, quoting four current U.S. officials.

At first blush there appeared to be nothing illegal in the contacts, but such extensive and intensive exchanges with a historic foe, and the pace and secrecy with which it was done, has riled the traditional Washington establishment — Republican and Democratic — that remains leery of Moscow.

In fact, even as news of appointment of the special prosecutor and previously undisclosed Russia contacts broke on Wednesday, the Trump dispensation and Republicans supporting him had the mortification of another embarrassing disclosure. A key GOP leader reportedly alleged at a party meeting during the 2016 campaign that Trump was on Russian leader Putin’s payroll.

”There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” Republican House Majority leader said at the meeting according to a recording of the June 2016 exchange first reported in Washington Post, which along with the New York Times has been relentlessly landing a one-two on the Trump Presidency over the past several days. Rohrabacher is a California Republican who is a staunch defender of Putin. Republican lawmakers at the meeting laughed at McCarthy’s comment, presumably seeing it as a joke, at which point McCarthy added, “swear to God.”

The party leadership, notably Speaker Paul Ryan, quickly stepped in to ensure the matter was not leaked to the media. On Thursday, McCarthy, who like Speaker Ryan later joined the Trump camp after initial reservations, maintained that the remark was a joke and nothing further should be read into it. (PTI)

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