Robert Mueller has 3 main options if Trump broke the law
"Of all the questions hanging over the special counsel investigation, one stands out: How will President Trump fare in the end?" asks Michael Schmidt and his colleagues at The New York Times. They run through Special Counsel Robert Mueller's three main options and what would happen next — Schmidt provides a good summary in the video below.
But one former senior FBI official who used to work under Mueller tells Vanity Fair the special counsel isn't really interested in Trump's fate. "Mueller doesn't care if he gets Trump," the official said. "He doesn't care if he doesn't get Trump. He has no political agenda. He is digging through the layers and bringing back the truth, and the truth is going to be whatever it is going to be." But he had some interesting thoughts on what Mueller is doing:
Vanity Fair's Chris Smith specifically examines Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's role, whether his exploitation of Mueller's inability or refusal to push back against the Giuliani-Trump scorched-earth attack on the investigation will prevail. The ex-FBI official said "Mueller is critically aware of everything that's being written or said" but "he completely tunes it out," for good reason. He brought up the old expression about the dangers of mud-wrestling with a pig, arguing that "the very fact that Mueller refuses to respond to the most outrageous criticisms and claims is the reason the pig is wrestling with itself in its own mud." Read more at Vanity Fair.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'Consumers fed up with food costs ditch big brands'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
What would it be like in jail for Trump if he's convicted?
Today's Big Question The Secret Service has begun grappling with how to protect a former president behind bars
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How much can you save shopping secondhand?
The Explainer Many Americans are buying pre-owned items to counteract the effects of inflation
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Anders Breivik to testify in prison isolation lawsuit against Norway
Speed Read Far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in 2011 claims he has received 'inhuman treatment' in custody
By The Week UK Published