Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker wrote an op-ed for The Hill last year criticizing calls for a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia ahead of the 2016 election.
“Calls for an independent counsel or commission to investigate allegations that Russia tried to interfere with our elections ring hollow when similar calls for special counsels during the scandals of the Obama administration were dismissed out of hand by the same people making these demands now,” Whitaker wrote in May of last year, when he was executive director of the nonprofit Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust.
“Serious, bipartisan congressional investigations into the Russian allegations have been under way for weeks and they have made progress. Hollow calls for independent prosecutors are just craven attempts to score cheap political points and serve the public in no measurable way,” he added.
Whitaker was named acting attorney general Wednesday after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for whom Whitaker was chief of staff, resigned at President Trump’s request.- READ MORE