Just about a year ago, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert S. Mueller III special counsel to investigate whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 election. While Mueller has already produced results, the investigation continues and appears to be picking up steam. Remarkably for a city that leaks like a sieve, the outside world has little idea of what is going on inside the probe. That cuts two ways: It protects the investigation's integrity but also makes its defense harder when it is attacked as "a witch hunt" by President Donald Trump and his supporters. There is every indication, however, that it will continue at its deliberate and careful pace and will continue to roil U.S. politics for some time to come.
Mueller was appointed May 17, 2017, after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, raising questions about the integrity of any internal Justice Department investigation into Moscow's alleged meddling in U.S. politics. Muller was tasked "to ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election," although the exact terms of his remit remain unknown. When challenged in court, however, Mueller provide a copy of his charge and the judge ultimately backed the special counsel's actions.
The opacity of the investigation — as best anyone can tell, the team has leaked no information to the media — has given critics room to paint the picture they please. Perhaps no individual has been more vociferous than Trump, who noted the one-year anniversary of Mueller's appointment by tweeting about "the greatest witch hunt in American History ... and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction."