WASHINGTON _ Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has been cleared by ethics officials at the Justice Department to oversee special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, despite his earlier public criticism of the probe, according to a U.S. official.
Democrats have demanded that Whitaker step back from Mueller's continuing investigation because he openly criticized the probe in interviews last year before he joined the Justice Department. But ethics officials advised Whitaker that he doesn't need to recuse himself, the official said. The decision was reported earlier by CNN.
Trump named Whitaker to run the Justice Department temporarily after ousting Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who the president had repeatedly criticized for recusing himself from the probe.
As Mueller's new boss, Whitaker has significant power to hobble or even halt the investigation that Trump has long called a "witch hunt." Mueller is probing Russia's interference in the 2016 election, whether Trump or any of his associates conspired in the meddling and if Trump obstructed justice.
As a CNN commentator, Whitaker openly argued last year that Mueller's probe needs to be curtailed, even describing a scenario in which an acting attorney general doesn't fire Mueller but "just reduces his budget to so low that his investigations grind to almost a halt."
Trump has nominated William Barr, to become the next attorney general. He held that post in the George H.W. Bush administration. He must still be confirmed by the Senate next year.
