Intense political partisanship in the United States has rendered Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s report into a debate over whether President Donald J. Trump committed a crime. Trump himself, the White House, and most Congressional Republicans say he didn’t, while Democratic legislators and presidential candidates say he did.
The fervor overshadows two key aspects of Mueller’s role and his report, say political and legal professors at Northeastern University. First, Mueller was appointed as a special counsel, not an independent counsel—a distinction that limits the scope of his investigation and powers. Second, Mueller’s report did clearly spell out a troubling allegation: There were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.
“That allegation deserves the attention of every American,” Mueller said Wednesday during his first public remarks since the investigation began nearly two years ago.
