Former FBI Head Mueller Named Special Prosecutor in Russia Probe

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been named special prosecutor to oversee the investigation of "Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters," the Justice Department said Wednesday.

"I have determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome" of the investigation, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said.

Mueller, who held the top position in the FBI from 2001-2013, was the predecessor to James Comey, who was fired last week by President Donald Trump.

A small but growing number of Trump's Republican colleagues in Congress, along with Democrats, are calling for a special prosecutor or commission to examine ties between Trump and his aides to Russia, an investigation going beyond those already being conducted by the FBI and the intelligence committees in both the Senate and House.

Calls for the appointment have grown in recent days, after Comey's firing and after news reports Tuesday that said Comey wrote a memo alleging Trump had asked him to derail the investigation of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

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