New special counsel investigating Trump: who he is, what he can do

[Imperialism Inc.]

Vox has a good primer on what the special counsel is, what rules he operates under etc.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/17/15656102/special-counsel-investigating-trump-robert-mueller

He's less independent than a special prosecutor because he can be overruled or fired by Rosenstein at any time.

He is investigating: “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump” as well as any crimes that may take place during the investigation, including things like perjury, obstruction of justice, and witness intimidation. And if Mueller finds enough evidence, he can seek an indictment against the suspect or suspects from a federal grand jury.

Their investigations aren't public: special counsels “are not journalists, and their job is not to inform the public of the results of their investigations.” “Their work, when done properly, is done in secret."

(There are still the separate and ongoing House and Senate probes into Trump’s Russia ties, though, and the members of Congress involved in those probes could presumably subpoena any documents the special counsel investigation collected and choose to reveal those to the public if they wanted to.)

[virtualobserver]

1. Rosenstein would never have selected someone with the stature of Mueller if he intended to overrule.

Also there are limitations in the way that he can overrule. He can only overrule if Mueller proposed something that was in conflict with the accepted procedures of the Justice dept. Mueller is no rookie, and would not do that. He would certainly never give Rosenstein a reason to fire him. Only Rosenstein can fire him....Trump cannot fire him directly.....If Trump wanted to fire him, he would have to fire Rosenstein, and replace him with someone who would fire him.

[Doreen]

2. How much can we trust Rosenstein?

[Kentonio]

3. That's the million dollar question