As the nation gets an ever-closer looks at the origins of the RussiaGate conspiracy theory, it is becoming increasingly clear that some nefarious actors were at work.
But can you blame them? Donald Trump came sauntering into Washington DC on the backs of a populist uprising, with his supporters practically begging him to drain the swamp – no matter how abrupt, bombastic, or verbally violent he would need to be in order to get results.
So, as any trapped rat would, the Deep State fought back, attempting to cast doubt on his electoral victory over Hillary Clinton by conjuring a story of Russian collusion. Then they sent their meanest junkyard dog, Bob Mueller, out to sniff for clues.
As it turns out, the leash they put on Mueller wasn’t just loose, but long as well.
The Justice Department on Wednesday released a mostly unredacted version of then-Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s August 2017 “scope memo” outlining the authority of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller — and the document reveals for the first time that Mueller’s authority went significantly beyond what was known previously.
Rosenstein, who later left the Justice Department for a law firm, oversaw Mueller’s probe and played a central role in its still-unfolding drama. He was the subject of a two-page memo written by then-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe that outlined how Rosenstein allegedly proposed wearing a wire in the White House “to collect additional evidence on the president’s true intentions,” and thought the scheme was plausible because “he was not searched when he entered the White House.” Rosenstein has denied those allegations and slammed the FBI.
Previously, it had been revealed that in May 2017, Rosenstein authorized Mueller to probe “i) any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; [and] iii) any other matters within the scope of [obstruction of justice laws].”
But, Rosenstein’s later August 2017 scope memo had remained largely redacted. The newly released version of the document makes clear that Rosenstein didn’t hesitate to explicitly authorize a deep-dive criminal probe into the Trump team that extended well beyond Russian interference efforts.
The memo goes on to detail just how deeply Mueller’s goons dug into the story of General Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser for the Trump White House, and the center of a great debate about the FBI’s tactics throughout the RussiaGate conspiracy investigation.
