Less than a month after Donald Trump praised Robert Mueller and his surrogates claimed to welcome the special counsel’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible Russia ties, those same surrogates have begun working hard to denigrate both Mueller and the process. In multiple articles and editorials, they’ve claimed that Mueller is too close to fired FBI director James Comey to be investigating whether Trump’s actions around Comey constitute obstruction, and that by bringing lawyers into his team who supported Hillary Clinton, the special counsel stacked the deck against Trump.
But the truth is that Donald Trump has a good reason to be afraid of the staff Mueller has assembled, and it has nothing to do with Hillary.
Only a handful have been named publicly so far, but legal experts and fellow lawyers who have spoken to media in recent days lauded the new hires as a powerhouse team of experienced professionals with sterling credentials who rank among the best in their field.
And one of those experienced professionals has a particular skill that probably hasn’t gotten past Trump’s legal team.
A veteran federal prosecutor recruited onto special counsel Robert Mueller's team is known for a skill that may come in handy in the investigation of potential ties between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team: persuading witnesses to turn on friends, colleagues and superiors.
That witness-flipping skill may have something to do with statements that came out yesterday from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse—statements that indicate former national security adviser Michael Flynn has already rolled over on Trump.
Evidence indicates President Donald Trump’s fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is cooperating with FBI investigators, said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Monday.
"All the signals are suggesting he is already cooperating with the FBI, and may have been for some time,” the Rhode Island Democrat, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
The evidence against Michael Flynn is overwhelming, and more is pouring in every day. Previous attempts by Flynn to gain immunity for testifying were rebuffed.
So it seems as if any offer to Flynn would have to involve something significant. After all, Trump warned him not to be a squealer.
"It could be a huge deal, because who knows what Trump has said to him, both during the campaign and during the early days of the presidency," Whitehouse added. "Apparently Trump has been in touch with him after his firing from the White House to tell him to stay strong, which, in some circumstances, could be looked at as manipulation of a witness or obstruction of justice."
But as more and more members of Trump’s team hire personal attorneys, people other than Flynn are likely to discover that turning on the boss is their only option—because these sides are not even, even though Trump is also expanding his team.
Mueller has several other highly experienced lawyers on his team, including U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben. Trump has also been building a legal team led by New York lawyer Marc Kasowitz, with veteran Washington defense lawyer John Dowd recently coming aboard.