Mueller Has Hired at Least 7 Democratic Donors for Investigation

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has hired 15 attorneys for his probe into Russia's involvement in last year's presidential election, seven of whom have donated to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats.

Thirteen of the appointees were identified Wednesday by The Washington Post.

The seven lawyers have donated a total of $60,787.77 to Clinton and other party candidates.

"In my view, prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party," William Barr, who served as attorney general under former President George H.W. Bush, told the Post.

In June, President Donald Trump slammed the ties of many of Mueller's appointees.

"I can say that the people that have been hired are all Hillary Clinton supporters," Trump told Fox News. "Some of them worked for Hillary Clinton.

"I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous, if you want to know the truth, from that standpoint."

Here are the Mueller appointees identified by the Post:

• James Quarles, a former assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. He came with Mueller from the law firm WilmerHale and has donated over $30,000 to various Democratic campaigns in 2016, including $2,700 to Hillary Clinton. His donations date back two decades.
• Jeannie Rhee, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel and assistant U.S. attorney in D.C. She also came from WilmerHale – and her donations include $5,400 to Clinton's campaigns in 2015 and 2016, and $4,800 to the Obama Victory Fund in 2008 and 2011.
• Andrew Weissmann, the chief of the Justice Department's fraud section. He donated $2,300 to the Obama Victory Fund in 2008, $2,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 2006, and at least $2,300 to the Clinton campaign in 2007.
• Andrew Goldstein, the former head of the public corruption operation in the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, working under Preet Bharara, whom President Trump fired as U.S. attorney in March after he refused to resign. He donated $3,300 to Obama's campaigns in 2008 and 2012.
• Elizabeth Prelogar, a lawyer in the U.S. solicitor general's office, who donated $250 each to Clinton's campaign and the Obama Victory Fund 2016 and 2012.
• Brandon Van Grack, a national security division prosecutor in the Justice Department, who contributed $286.77 to Obama's campaign in 2008.
• Rush Atkinson, a trial attorney in the Justice Department's fraud section, who gave $200 to Clinton's campaign last year.

These attorneys on Mueller's team have made no political contributions, according to the Post:

• Zainab Ahmad, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York who specializes in counterterrorism cases.
• Michael Dreeben, a Justice Department deputy solicitor general who has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court.
• Adam Jed, an appellate lawyer from the Justice Department's civil division.
• Lisa Page, a former trial attorney in the Justice Department's organized crime and gang section who also has worked in the FBI General Counsel's Office.
• Aaron Zebley, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia who served as Mueller's chief of staff when he was FBI director. He came with Mueller from WilmerHale.
• Aaron Zelinsky, an assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland.

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