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Attorney General ordered the appointment of the Special Counsel “in order to discharge the [Attorney General’s] responsibility to provide supervision and management of the Department of Justice, and to ensure a full and thorough investigation of these matters.”[1] The Order stated:

The Special Counsel is authorized to investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III.[2]

“If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate,” the Order further provided, “the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from his investigation of these matters.” The Order also provided that “28 C.F.R. §§ 600.4 to 600.10 are applicable to the Special Counsel.”[3]

  1. ↑ Appointment Order (introduction).
  2. ↑ Appointment Order ¶ (b).
  3. ↑ Id. ¶¶ (c)–(d). We have not interpreted the Order as directing us to investigate the Department’s handling of matters associated with the investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. For a review of those matters, see Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election (June 2018). We also have not interpreted the Order as directing us to consider the handling of the investigation into President Trump opened by the FBI on May 16, 2017. See FBI EC from Counterintelligence, Re: [Redacted] Foreign Agents Registration Act – Russia; Sensitive Investigative Matter (May 16, 2017). (The following day, the Deputy Attorney General appointed Special Counsel Mueller “to investigate Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election and related matters.” See 1 Mueller Report at 11–12 (describing the authorities given to Special Counsel Mueller). Finally, we have not interpreted the Order as directing us to consider matters addressed by the former United States Attorney for the District of Utah or by the former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, other than those relating to Crossfire Hurricane or the FISA applications targeting Carter Page. For accounts of these matters in the news media, see Thomas Burr & Pamela Manson, U.S. Attorney for Utah Is Investigating GOP-Raised Concerns About the FBI Surveilling Trump Aide and About Clinton’s Uranium Ties, Salt Lake Tribune (Mar. 29, 2018), https://www.stlrib.com/news/2018/03/29/us-attorney-for-utah-huber-probing-gop-raised-concerns-about-the-fbi-surveilling-trump-aide-ignoring-clinton-uranium-ties/; Charlie Savage et al., Barr Installs Outside Prosecutor to Review Case Against Michael Flynn, Ex-Trump Adviser, N.Y. Times (Feb. 14, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/politics/michael-flynn-prosecutors-barr.html.

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