Democrats encouraged, Republicans mixed about special counsel on Russia investigation

Record ID: 876413

  • Title: Democrats encouraged, Republicans mixed about special counsel on Russia investigation
  • Date: 18th May 2017
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (MAY 18, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENATOR MARK WARNER (DEMOCRAT-VIRGINIA) SAYING: "I think the appointment of Bob Mueller was a great choice. You have somebody with impeccable integrity, great experience in the field as a former director of the FBI and broad bipartisan support. So, I think what he will provide is the confidence for not just members of Congress but the American public that this White House, which has shown a kind of unwillingness to accept the whole premise that the Russians interfered in our elections, that he won't be interfered with. WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENATOR MARK WARNER (DEMOCRAT-VIRGINIA) SAYING: “I don't think there's an American but I've talked to in the last few weeks that doesn't think this is extraordinarily serious. You've got complete bipartisan recognition that the Russians interfered in our elections. You have a firing of an FBI director. You have the president potentially sharing classified information with the Russians. You have, I think many members of the administration who understand how serious this is. The one person in that White House that perhaps doesn't understand how serious it is, is the president."
  • Embargoed: 1st June 2017 17:00
  • Keywords: SENATOR MARK WARNER SENATOR SENATOR RICHARD BLUMENTHAL SENATOR SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM SENATOR ORRIN HATCH Senate Russia Donald Trump
  • Location: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0036HDA9MV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Democrats on Thursday (May 18) applauded the Justice Department's appointment of a special counsel to investigate possible ties between President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, while Republicans have called the step both welcome and unnecessary.
    Former FBI chief Robert Mueller was named as special counsel on Wednesday (May 17).
    Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller after a succession of jarring developments that brought questions over Russia's alleged meddling in the election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign to a boil.
    They included Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, reports that Trump had previously pressured Comey to end a probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and Trump discussing sensitive information on Islamic State with the Russian foreign minister.
    Rosenstein, the No. 2 Justice Department official, named Mueller amid mounting pressure in Congress for an independent investigation beyond existing FBI and congressional probes into the Russia issue.
    Mueller's appointment was not expected to affect the FBI or congressional investigations.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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