WMAL Interview - ANDREW MCCARTHY - 12.14.17

INTERVIEW - ANDREW MCCARTHY - former federal prosecutor and a contributing editor at National Review. • MCCARTHY wrote in Washington Post yesterday: "Mueller needs to make a change: As he explores possible Trump campaign collusion in Russia’s election interference, is special counsel Robert S. Mueller III running an impartial investigation?" "I am not much alarmed that several of Mueller’s staffers have anti-Trump political views. But as more evidence emerges, I have become increasingly disturbed about whether those views will taint perception of the Mueller investigation, particularly in the case of Andrew Weissmann, a key Mueller deputy... For Trump, the best outcome is that he leaves Mueller in place and is exonerated. For Mueller, the best outcome is that the public accepts the integrity of whatever decisions he makes. In that regard, I began with the belief that Mueller was a superb choice whose well-earned reputation for personal integrity would be critical. I still think so, but I’ve been shaken by his puzzling insensitivity to the imperative that his staff be, and be seen as, driven by evidence, not anti-Trump bias. Just as Mueller would not have recruited Strzok had he known of the texts, one imagines he would have passed on Weissmann had he known of his email paean to Yates. Removing Weissmann, just as Mueller removed Strzok, would be a reassuring course correction. • Rosenstein stands by Mueller probe as Republicans fume over 'insider bias: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein stood by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe Wednesday, despite a newly unearthed trove of damning text messages and other details that Republicans said show an “insider bias” on the investigative team. Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller and has overseen the Russia probe since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself, testified before the House Judiciary Committee -- and faced a grilling from GOP lawmakers. • Ex-Mueller aides' texts revealed: The anti-Trump texts between two former members of Robert Mueller's team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election first surfaced after a Justice Department watchdog requested messages from the government-issued phones of several FBI employees involved in the Hillary Clinton email investigation ... Peter Strzok, a former deputy to the assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, played a key role in the email probe, changing former FBI Director James Comey’s early draft language about Clinton’s actions from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless" and conducting the FBI interview of Clinton over the July 4 weekend in 2016.