Grassley: Mueller, Senate Investigations Can Coexist

Sen. Charles Grassley signaled that Congress and special counsel to the Justice Department Robert Mueller will be able to operate independently in their investigations of Russian influence on the presidential election and the firing of FBI director James Comey, who had been leading the investigation of former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's Russian contacts.

Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a statement to that effect after a closed-door meeting with Mueller, which also included ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

”We had a very productive discussion with Special Counsel Mueller today on our parallel investigations to ensure each can proceed without impeding the other," Grassley said in a statement issued by his office. "We appreciate Special Counsel Mueller’s willingness to meet with us, and both parties have committed to keeping an open dialogue as we proceed.”

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.