Robert Mueller’s independent investigation of President Trump leads a growing list of probes into a president who has been in office less than four months and is now mired in layers of unwanted scrutiny.
Mueller, the former FBI director, was on Wednesday appointed special counsel over an ongoing FBI probe into Trump, his campaign’s alleged connections with Russian operatives, and likely the president’s decision to fire Mueller’s successor, James Comey.
Congress is already knee-deep in Trump investigations and lawmakers signaled Wednesday that none will abate as a result of Mueller’s new role.
“The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will continue its own investigation and to the extent any deconfliction is required, we will engage with Director Mueller and our expectation is that he will engage with the Committee as well,” Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va., the panel chairman and ranking member, respectively, said.
Both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees are examining various aspects of the Russia allegations, Comey’s firing and a leaked memo in which Comey claimed Trump pressured him to drop the agency’s investigation into ousted national security adviser Mike Flynn.
In addition to the intelligence panels, the House Oversight Committee is probing Trump.
The panel is threatening to subpoena the FBI for the Comey memo and has scheduled a hearing next Wednesday where Comey will be invited to testify.
The hearing is still on, an oversight aide told the Washington Examiner, although Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has been unable to reach Comey, a problem Mueller probably won’t have.
The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and top Democrat Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., praised the appointment of Mueller to lead the FBI probe, but the panel is not ceding ground.
“Senator Grassley and I have invited FBI Director Comey to testify before the Judiciary Committee,” Feinstein announced on Twitter an hour after Mueller’s appointment was made public.
It’s not clear how Mueller’s investigation will function alongside the probes by his congressional counterparts.
Mueller will have subpoena power, but so do the congressional panels, which could lead to conflicts and difficulties interviewing witnesses.
In many instances, Congress has put investigations on hold in deference to the Justice Department if it is investigating a member of Congress.
That’s typically the case with the House Ethics Committee, which is tasked with policing wrongdoing by House lawmakers. The ethics panel usually drops its probes if the Justice Department is pursuing criminal charges.
In March, for example, the Ethics Committee voted unanimously to defer an investigation into whether Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., misspent campaign funds because the FBI is conducting its own investigation.
But none of the relevant committee chairs, nor the GOP leaders, suggested Wednesday that Congress will defer its own efforts in order to make way for Mueller’s investigation of Trump.
By all indications, the House and Senate panels will keep working.
“The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will also continue its investigation into this matter,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said after Mueller’s appointment was announced.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said he welcomed Mueller’s role heading an independent investigation at the Justice Department.
“The important ongoing bipartisan investigation in the House will also continue,” Ryan said.
