With the exception of a seven year period from 1994-2001, public confidence in government has been dropping almost steadily since Jack Kennedy was President. It is in part for that reason that insistence on strict ethical standards in high-profile and politically-charged cases must be maintained. As I have argued, public confidence in the Special Counsel's investigation of Donald Trump will be difficult to preserve if the present Counsel, Bob Mueller, stays on despite mounting evidence that he's close friends with his star witness (yet potential subject), Jim Comey. See my posts here and here.
More evidence of that relationship has emerged in the views of an FBI agent who worked with both men. The evidence is sufficiently persuasive that CNN's legal analyst has said that Mueller's remaining in his position "could be problematic." For an outlet as hostile to Trump as CNN, that is strong language indeed.
As the linked article states:
Retired FBI agent James Gagliano, who has worked under both former FBI Director James Comey and Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who also once helmed the bureau, said he's "troubled" by the relationship between the two men.Ever since Mueller was appointed to oversee the Russia investigation in mid-May, just days after Comey leaked memos of his private conversations with President Donald Trump, Gagliano has had reservations, he told CNN host Poppy Harlow."The only thing that has troubled me from the start [is] ... why would you appoint a special prosecutor that has a personal relationship with one of the central figures in the investigation," Gagliano said Monday morning of Mueller and Comey, both of whom he "respects.""My criticism is the special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, has a personal relationship with former Director Comey," he reiterated. "Why would you appoint a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation where a central witness and figure has a personal relationship?"The CNN anchor turned to network legal analyst Paul Callan, who agreed that Mueller was an "odd choice" to oversee the Russia investigation."I think to put [Mueller] in charge of the investigation now of Comey -- that, maybe, could be problematic," he explained.
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