Mueller hires a cyber prosecutor

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has added a new investigator to his team — and it's a telling hire.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Mueller has signed on Ryan Dickey to join his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential collusion by the Trump campaign. The Post describes Dickey as a "veteran cyber prosecutor" and notes that he "is the first publicly known member of [Mueller's] team specializing solely in cyber issues."

Dickey's background that could prove invaluable as the Russia probe tackles whether multiple cybersecurity breaches helped propel President Trump to victory in 2016. The Post notes that Dickey was involved in the successful prosecution of the Romanian hacker "Guccifer," whose unintentional discovery of Hillary Clinton's private email account dogged her throughout her presidential campaign.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

The Post reports that Mueller may be exploring possible charges of "conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act," which explicitly prohibits "unauthorized access and use of computers and computer networks," if he discovers Trump's camp did conspire with the Russians to exploit unlawfully obtained information. Business Insider's Natasha Bertrand reported last month that Mueller's team was investigating whether Trump's campaign was given voter data lifted by Russia-backed hackers.