Mueller's authority has always included the power to bring indictments, He also has a duty to report (confidential to AG) investigations that concluded "no bill," meaning evidence does not support bringing a criminal charge.
His investigation (and therefore indicting possibility) scope is limited to
investigation confirmed by then-FBI Director James B. Comey in testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017, including(i) any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump"
The grant language is necessarily vague because the grant is public, and the FBI (all cops) have a policy of conducting investigations in secret, so as to not harm the reputation of innocent people who come under investigation. But the "rubber meets the road" grant is well defined by the open investigations in the FBI. For all we know, there are two or four open investigations, and that's it. One for Flynn, one for Manafort are the only two that pop into my head.
I don't think Trump should make any noise that suggests any concern at all with Mueller. Let the surrogates and the press duke it out. Trump has consistently taken the position (and even Comey's testimony corroborates this) that he wants the investigation to be thorough and get to the bottom of it so it can be put to bed "properly." Trump is not trying to hide anything.
I don't see any graceful way to remove Mueller, and I suspect that Trump has been "in on the plan" to have Mueller take this job. Trump interviewed Mueller to head the FBI, a day before Rosenstein named Mueller as SC.
Trump has consistently taken the position (and even Comey’s testimony corroborates this) that he wants the investigation to be thorough and get to the bottom of it so it can be put to bed “properly.” Trump is not trying to hide anything.
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Likely so, but the only law that really matters is Murphy’s Law (i.e., what can go wrong, will go wrong). Its very easy for things to spiral out of control in unexpected ways.
The DC Swamp is not about to let an outsider like Trump to stroll into Washington and start shaking things up. Allowing someone like him to run THEIR TOWN is a dangerous precedent that the establishment cannot and will not tolerate. The long knives are out and Mueller is the spearhead.