Top Appointment

Top Appointment

According to MSNBC, a top criminal law expert joins special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

One of the federal government's top criminal law specialists is joining the investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III centered on possible coordination between President Trump's associates and Russian officials.

Justice Department deputy solicitor general Michael Dreeben, who has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court, is the department's go-to lawyer on criminal justice cases and is highly respected by Democrats and Republicans because of his encyclopedic knowledge of criminal law. Dreeben will work part time for Mueller, according to Justice officials, while he continues to oversee the department's criminal appellate cases.

Former and current Justice Department officials say that Mueller's recruitment of Dreeben shows how serious he is about the investigation and signals complexities in the probe. "Michael is the most brilliant and most knowledgeable federal criminal lawyer in America - period," said Walter Dellinger, a law professor at Duke University School of Law and acting solicitor general for the 1996-1997 term of the Supreme Court.

"I learned early on in my time as acting [solicitor general] that there was no point of ever thinking of second-guessing Michael on a matter of federal criminal law, because he just knew more than I did or could ever know," Dellinger said. "He's a straight shooter, and is held in the greatest esteem by the FBI and lawyers in U.S. attorneys offices all over the country."

Mueller, working out of the Patrick Henry Building on D Street NW, was appointed special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein on May 17 and has been building a team of top criminal-law experts for his high-profile investigation. Dreeben's move to the team was first reported by the National Law Journal. (Read more)

Our Prayer: Lord, the appointment of Michael Dreeben to the counsel on the Russian probe may be the first thing that both sides of Congress have agreed on during the current administration.

This could be Your answering the many prayers that have gone up to You regarding unity in our government.

Give this counsel Your direction through the Holy Spirit for an honest and truthful conclusion of the investigation.

We pray that Michael Dreeben's work as Special Prosecutor in these investigations would not be tainted by his own, close friendship with James Comey.

We ask this in Your name, amen.