The Justice Department's appointment of a special counsel to investigate the growing Russia quagmire has given President Trump short-term relief but long-term risks.
On a day the president watched his support among some Republicans fracture and congressional inquiries gain steam, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller to take over the agency's investigation of Moscow's meddling in last year's election, a controversy that includes questions of collusion by Trump associates.
The appointment calmed escalating demands for an independent inquiry from Democrats. It was also welcomed by some congressional Republicans who had been watching any hopes of major legislative initiatives being sidelined by political scandal. But for Trump, the appointment of a special counsel means that the investigation is likely to last not for months but for years. And Mueller is seen as an experienced and highly respected figure who will follow the inquiry wherever it goes.
A special counsel was "necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome," Rosenstein said in a statement.
Trump, who reportedly wasn't consulted about the appointment before it was made, released a three-sentence statement. "A thorough investigation will confirm what we already know — there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity," he said. "I look forward to this matter concluding quickly."
That's not likely. Special counsels typically aren't quick, and they can be unpredictable.
Just ask Bill and Hillary Clinton. The appointment of Kenneth Starr to investigate an Arkansas land transaction known as Whitewater initially was supported by some Clinton White House aides trying to staunch a political controversy. But it morphed into a broader investigation of President Clinton and his personal misbehavior in the White House. It led ultimately to his 1998 impeachment by the House, although he wasn't convicted by the Senate.
The Trump administration previously had dismissed the need for an independent inquiry. "There's frankly no need for a special prosecutor," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the other day.
But the appointment came after a cascade of extraordinary disclosures in the space of two weeks: Congressional testimony by former acting attorney general Sally Yates about her warnings to the White House that forced the departure of national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump's decision to fire Comey, saying in an interview the Russia investigation was one reason. And reports that Comey had written contemporaneous memos after Trump in February asked if he could let the Flynn investigation "go."
Now the president can't count on the loyalty of officials in his administration to protect him — not Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been forced to recuse himself from the Russia inquiry because of his own contacts during the campaign with the Russian ambassador, nor whomever Trump names to succeed James Comey to head the FBI.
Mueller isn't beholden to Trump for his job. His conclusions could answer the question of what Trump's campaign did and whether the president tried to obstruct the inquiry — an allegation that critics say could amount to an impeachable offense. Arizona Sen. John McCain, a maverick Republican, said Tuesday night it was of "Watergate size and scale."
Trump was defiant in a commencement address Wednesday at the Coast Guard Academy, an occasion that presidents typically have used to focus on the graduating class' dedication and the national security challenges they will face. He did some of that but also complained about his own treatment in office.
"Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media," he said. "No politician in history, and I say with surety, has been treated worse, more unfairly." Other presidents, from Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton, have decried their treatment in the news media, though none at this early stage of their tenures.
As of Wednesday, Trump had been president for just 118 days.
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