Source: Politics
Former special counsel Robert Mueller will take part in a University of Virginia law school class covering his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential ties to the Trump campaign, the school announced Wednesday.
Mueller, who graduated from the school in 1973, will lead “at least one class” of the course, which is being taught by three former senior Mueller team members, including deputy special counsel Aaron Zebley, according to a release from the school. The “short” class, called “The Mueller Report and the Role of the Special Counsel,” will be taught in person this fall.
“I was fortunate to attend UVA Law School after the Marine Corps, and I’m fortunate to be returning there now,” Mueller said in the release. “I look forward to engaging with the students this fall.”
The class is set to begin with the investigation’s origin, and will go on to discuss Roger Stone’s prosecution, obstruction of justice and how a special counsel factors into holding a president accountable, among other things. According to the school’s release, Mueller aims to have top prosecutors from the investigation visit the class as guest speakers.
Mueller was notoriously tight-lipped about the investigation, even after it concluded. Outside of congressional testimony in 2019, Mueller was silent publicly on the investigation until July 2020, when he wrote a Washington Post op-ed defending the investigation.
The Justice Department named Mueller as special counsel in 2017. According to Mueller’s report, Trump did not respond kindly to his appointment.
“Oh my God,” the former president told then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m fucked.”
Trump often railed against Mueller, frequently calling the investigation a “witch hunt,” and repeatedly tried to fire him, according to Mueller’s report.
Mueller’s report ultimately did not evidence to show that Trump’s campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to aid Russian interference attempts. The report did not rule out that Trump obstructed justice, but also did not implicate him of it. Mueller also found that the Russian government meddled in the 2016 election in “sweeping and systematic fashion,” and his office charged dozens of Russian people and entities with federal crimes.
His office indicted Trump confidant Roger Stone in connection with the probe, which he defended. Trump commuted Stone’s prison sentence.
“The Russia investigation was of paramount importance,” Mueller wrote in the Post op-ed. “Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.”