Robert S. Mueller III became special counsel on May 17, 2017, when Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein affixed his signature to this single page of open-ended instructions. The document’s brevity belies its significance: Rosenstein had just set in motion one of the most important investigations in US history, one that would explore whether the president’s campaign had worked with a foreign power to get him elected, and whether the president had then worked to thwart law enforcement’s effort to figure out what happened.
Rosenstein’s order gave Mueller wide latitude. The Vietnam veteran and former FBI director was assigned to take over the inquiry into possible coordination between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, as well as “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.” That appeared to be a reference to an investigation—already opened at the time of Mueller’s appointment though not yet publicly confirmed—into whether President Trump had sought to obstruct justice. Rosenstein would issue a more detailed memo a few months later providing a more specific description of Mueller’s authority, and noting that his first order was “worded categorically in order to permit its public release without confirming specific investigations involving specific individuals.”
Note to the Reader:
The Rod Rosenstein appointment letter was appended to the special counsel’s final report as Appendix A and also appears in that context in this volume.