JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has not given special counsel Robert Mueller a certain date by which his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election must be completed, a source within the Justice Department familiar with the investigation said. But speculation that it will wrap up immediately after the November midterm elections is off the mark, the source said. Instead, the probe is expected to wind down by the end of the year…Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation, on Wednesday [10-17-18] called the probe ‘appropriate and independent,’ in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, but declined to comment on when it would end. How and when exactly Mueller’s investigation will finally conclude has captured significant public attention as President Donald Trump fiercely maintains that his campaign did not collude with the Kremlin. To date, the investigation has yielded guilty pleas from four former campaign officials, but Trump has complained that the investigation is unfounded and a waste of taxpayer money. One of the complicating factors surrounding its completion date, however, is the fact that his legal team is still working on providing written answers to Mueller’s questions.”
–Laura Jarrett, “Mueller’s not being pressured to wind down his probe immediately after midterms, source says,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, October 18, 2018 8:45 pm