The US Justice Department, in the face of rising pressure from Capitol Hill, named former FBI chief Robert Mueller on Wednesday as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow.
The move followed a week in which the White House was thrown into uproar after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Democrats and some of the president's fellow Republicans had demanded an independent probe of whether Russia tried to sway the outcome of November's election in favor of Trump and against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Robert Mueller pauses after making an opening statement at the US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 19, 2013. /VCG Photo
Trump said in a statement after the Justice Department announcement he looked forward to a quick resolution.
"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," he said.
"With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel [sic] appointed!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
The Russia issue has, however, clouded his early months in office. Moscow has denied the conclusion by US intelligence agencies that it meddled in the campaign.
Pressure on the White House intensified after Trump fired Comey, who had been leading a federal probe into the matter, and allegations that Trump had asked Comey to end the FBI investigation into ties between Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and Russia. That raised questions about whether the president improperly attempted to interfere with a federal investigation.
US President Donald Trump speaks at the One Hundred Thirty-Sixth Commencement Exercises of the US Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut, US, May 17, 2017. /VCG Photo
"My decision (to appoint a special counsel) is not the finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a statement announcing the special counsel.
"I determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome," he said.
Mueller said in a statement, "I accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability."
Robert Mueller waits for the beginning of a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 22, 2010. /VCG Photo
Mueller, 72, was decorated as a Marine Corps officer during the Vietnam War. A former federal prosecutor, he is known for his tough, no-nonsense managerial style. Appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, he became FBI director one week before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
He was asked by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2011 to stay on for two more years and was replaced by Comey in 2013.
Mueller was credited with transforming the FBI, putting more resources into counterterrorism investigations and improving its cooperation with other US government agencies.
(Source: Reuters)
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