How to understand the first indictments against Donald Trump’s former aides

CALL it the “Al Capone trap”. Ever since the authorities used tax evasion charges to jail the notorious Chicago crime boss in 1931, the idea has taken hold that federal prosecutors work a bit like legal vigilantes: using any weapon that comes to hand to achieve their sworn mission, which is always to take down the biggest bad guys they can, by any means necessary.

That is not how Robert Mueller, the lantern-jawed special counsel and former FBI chief, sees his mission, say well-informed former federal prosecutors. Mr Mueller’s mission is not to topple President Donald Trump and claim a political scalp. Mr Mueller’s—deadly serious—mission is to investigate Russian government efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, and whether there was any coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign in those efforts. There is an important difference between those two possible missions, even if they may end in a similar place, namely grave political jeopardy for the 45th president.

That distinction should...Continue reading

Source: United States http://ift.tt/2iNBMMF

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