Mueller Investigation To End By Sept. 1

For months President Trump and his supporters have questioned how long Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation would last. As the probe reached its one-year mark, Mr. Mueller has reportedly hinted that there is an end in sight. The New York Times reports that Mueller plans to wrap up his investigation of the Trump team by September.

Rudy Giuliani, who is now the president’s lawyer, said that Mueller informed him two weeks ago that the current timeline shows that the probe of the president’s campaign should be wrapped up by Sept. 1, provided that Mr. Trump agrees to be interviewed. Giuliani added that if the investigation continues beyond that point, Mueller would risk being accused of interfering with the 2018 elections.

The Mueller investigation would not necessarily end completely by September when the investigation into Team Trump concludes. Mueller’s appointment by the Department of Justice instructed him to conduct a “full and thorough investigation of the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.” The investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign were complicit with the Russians is merely one aspect of the larger investigation.

Despite accusations that Mueller is dragging out his investigation, the Russia probe is proceeding quickly. If the investigation into the Trump Administration concludes in September, that would mark approximately one year and three months. Other special counsel investigations have taken much longer. The Reagan-era Iran-Contra investigation lasted more than six years as did the Whitewater investigation of Bill Clinton. The Valerie Plame investigation in the second Bush Administration took three years. The longest special counsel investigation, which resulted in the indictment of HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros for perjury in 1997, lasted nine years.

A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment on Giuliani’s remarks. So far the Mueller investigation has indicted 19 people on a variety of charges and secured five guilty pleas. Thus far no evidence has been made public that shows that members of the Trump Administration successfully conspired with the Russians to affect the outcome of the election.

Originally published on The Resurgent