Well, well, well. Ken Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated Bill Clinton and drew fire for his wide-ranging “witch hunt,” appeared on television Friday morning to express his concern about Bob Mueller’s probe into possible Trump campaign ties with the Russian government. His gripe? It might be going beyond its scope. He wasn’t sure but there is the possibility.
During an appearance on CNN New Day, Starr was questioned on whether he thought Mueller was going beyond the mandate of the investigation.
“The mandate that Bob Mueller received has some broad language, including ‘related-to’ type of language, which tends to open the door, but there are some checks and balances,” Starr continued to say, “We don’t want investigators and prosecutors out on a fishing expedition.”
According to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein‘s letter appointing Mueller, he is authorized to investigate any links or coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government and “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
“If the investigation goes beyond the Russian mandate–‘let’s just look into the financing of Trump Tower’ but there is no Russian connection to it–then the argument is there, as I see it, that the investigation has gone too far,” Starr said. Starr said that if Trump feels that the investigation is going beyond the scope, he could take legal action, and a court would ultimately have to decide.
“This is a stay-tuned,” he said.
[Screengrab via CNN]
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