Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

We Now Know How Trump Plans to Use the List of Mueller Questions to His Own Advantage

We Now Know How Trump Plans to Use the List of Mueller Questions to His Own Advantage
(Photos by Alex Wong and Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Good luck with that.

Monday, a list of potential questions for President Donald Trump from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office, compiled and written by Trump's personal lawyers, was leaked to the press. Now those 49 questions, written out by Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, are being touted as proof of overreach by Mueller's Russia investigation.

Trump's legal team denied any connection to the leak of the questions. However their strategy to discredit the Russia probe for overreach is dependent on the questions being made public.


According to a report in The Washington Post, the plan is for the president and several spokespeople to point to Sekulow's leaked list of questions as evidence Mueller strayed beyond the original scope of the investigation. They're also invoking the name of a prominent figure in the Clinton presidency: Kenneth Starr.

“Mueller is in Kenny Starr territory now,” said a Trump adviser. In 1994, Starr was appointed by a special three-judge division of the D.C. Circuit Court to continue the Whitewater investigation.

Whitewater referred to a series of real estate deals made in Arkansas by Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Whitewater investigation, however, fell under a different law than the current Russia probe.

Starr was appointed by the judicial branch as an independent counsel citing the Ethics in Government Act. Robert Mueller's appointment as a special counsel falls under the executive branch, by the Attorney General's office, pursuant to the General Powers of Special Counsel.

The Trump team's reference to "Kenny Starr" relates to the controversial investigation lasting years and broadening to examining almost every aspect of the first lady and President Clinton’s lives, including the president's sexual relationship with a White House intern that eventually led to his impeachment.

However, the comparison ignores some basic facts in the two investigations. The functions of Starr and Mueller are entirely different.

Starr was granted wide ranging independent powers by the Ethics in Government Act. He worked as an independent counsel without government oversight. Starr was within his powers to investigate beyond Whitewater real estate activity.

Mueller is governed by the limitations of the special counsel. He is unable to make independent decisions regarding his investigation and must stay within the scope outlined for him by the office that appointed him, the United States Attorney General.

The Trump team's strategy depends on convincing people that they don't want another Starr style investigation, but invoking Starr's name is not enough. They must prove that Mueller's probe has gone beyond his own investigation scope.

Paul Manafort attempted to do just that, to try to overturn his own indictment resulting from Mueller's investigation. Manafort's lawyers invoked exceeding scope as a defense against the charges.

However, Mueller's office produced a redacted memo showing Manafort's charges fell well within the scope set forth for the Office of Special Counsel. The memo was created by the Office of the Attorney General by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the case.

The Attorney General's office oversees the Mueller investigation. If overreach occurred, they would know and be able to take action. As of yet, no statements of overreach have been made by anyone associated with the Justice Department or the Office of the Attorney General.

Public opinion has not latched on to the concept or comparisons to Ken Starr's Whitewater investigation either.

More from People/donald-trump

Dr. Mehmet Oz
Fox News

Dr. Oz Slammed After His 'Credit Card' Health Care Analogy Goes Completely Off The Rails

Snake oil salesman Dr. Mehmet Oz—now the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—was criticized after he tried to discuss U.S. health insurance providers' pledge to speed up the prior authorization process by oddly comparing it to a "credit card," underscoring just how much he doesn't understand the job he currently holds.

Earlier this week, major U.S. health insurers—including Cigna, Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare—announced a set of reforms aimed at simplifying the often frustrating prior authorization process for patients and providers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Jon Ossoff and Russell Vought
@atrupar/X

Jon Ossoff Lays Into Project 2025 Architect For Trying To Gut The CDC In Fiery Takedown

Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff criticized Project 2025 architect and current Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought during a Senate appropriations hearing for the Trump administration's austere spending cuts that are currently focused on slashing the budget and workforce of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Ossoff pressed Russell Vought on the administration’s decision to cut the agency’s budget by nearly half and on the loss of roughly 25% of its workforce.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jasmine Crockett Calls Out Trump's Hypocrisy By Pointing Out How Melania Got Her Visa
Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for SiriusXM; Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Jasmine Crockett Calls Out Trump's Hypocrisy By Pointing Out How Melania Got Her Visa

Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett pointed out President Donald Trump's hypocrisy on immigration considering how First Lady Melania Trump's pathway to citizenship was possible because she received an "Einstein visa," which is usually reserved for an individual with "some sort of significant achievement."

Speaking during a House Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Restoring Integrity and Security to the Visa Process,” Crockett noted that “the idea that Trump and my Republican colleagues want to restore integrity and security in the visa process is actually a joke," and harshly criticized the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and visa restrictions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Jennifer Griffin and Pete Hegseth
The Hill

Fox Host Comes To Reporter's Defense After Pete Hegseth Berates Her At Pentagon Briefing

Fox News' chief political analyst Brit Hume came to the defense of Fox national security reporter Jennifer Griffin after their former colleague, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, criticized Griffin as the reporter "who misrepresents the most intentionally what the president says” in a Pentagon news conference.

Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor, had criticized media outlets—including his former network—for what he described as unpatriotic reporting. Hegseth took particular aim at early intelligence assessments suggesting that President Donald Trump's bombing of Iran may not have significantly crippled Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Keep ReadingShow less

Teachers Share The Questions Students Asked In Class That Broke Their Hearts

Being a teacher is a calling.

It is not for the meek or weak of heart.

Keep ReadingShow less