How Political is the Mueller Probe?
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is making progress - but will President Trump's claims of a 'witch hunt' undermine its work?
It has been a torrid week for US-Russian relations. Days after Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election, President Trump met President Putin in Helsinki. In an extraordinary press conference Mr Trump said he preferred to believe Mr Putin rather than US intelligence agencies when it came to accusations of Russian meddling in the US election. Mr Trump’s comments have caused outrage across the US political spectrum – and led to a rare climb-down from Mr Trump, who said he ‘misspoke’.
Next week Mr Trump’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort goes on trial for tax evasion. Mr Trump’s links with Russia have long dogged him but will they now damage him? He has made it clear that he sees the Mueller investigation as biased, in his words ‘a rigged witch hunt’. With the US mid-term elections on the horizon, the fate of the Mueller investigation and Mr Trump’s political future both hang in the balance. Ritula Shah looks at the Mueller investigation and asks what it is doing, what has it discovered, and whether it is political.
(Photo: Special counsel Robert Mueller leaves after a closed meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Contributors:
Mary Dejevsky - journalist on the Independent newspaper
James Henry - investigative economist and lawyer, Senior Fellow at Yale
Max Kutner - journalist covering the FBI
Tony Shaffer - adviser to Trump 2020 campaign
Also featuring:
Sebastian Gorka - former Trump White House staffer
Broadcasts
- Fri 20 Jul 2018 08:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service except News Internet
- Fri 20 Jul 2018 17:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service Australasia
- Fri 20 Jul 2018 23:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service except News Internet
- Sat 21 Jul 2018 03:06GMT´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service except Australasia & News Internet
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The Real Story
Global experts and decision makers discuss, debate and analyse a key news story.