A federal appeals court that is widely viewed as the second-most powerful court in the country handed down an opinion on Tuesday holding that Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel is constitutional. This isn’t exactly a surprising decision.
Many of the issues raised in In re Grand Jury Investigation rehash questions that were settled in previous cases involving special or independent counsels. And the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision was joined by Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson — an arch-conservative judge who fairly often dissented from Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s right when Kavanaugh served on her court.
Yet, while the arguments in Grand Jury are not especially controversial, they’ve been treated as such by one of the most powerful organizations in the country. Steven Calabresi, a law professor and chairman of the Federalist Society’s board of directors, published a 21-page memo arguing that Mueller’s appointment is unconstitutional. The Federalist Society itself touted this argument in a teleconference that many journalists — including this reporter — were invited to attend.
View the complete February 26 article by Ian Hillhiser on the ThinkProgress website here.