{"id":2583016,"date":"2026-03-23T17:23:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T21:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/robert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T17:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T21:25:08","slug":"robert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/robert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane\/","title":{"rendered":"Mueller&#8217;s Legacy Is Failing To Stay In His Lane"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frobert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2583016&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Federalist piece by Eddie Scarry critiques Robert Mueller\u2019s legacy, arguing that Mueller\u2019s approach and his conclusion that the Russia probe \u201calso does not exonerate\u201d Trump contributed to a self<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >-destructive political narrative<\/a> around the former president. Scarry contends that Mueller\u2019s line provided a political lifeline for Democrats and anti-Trump media to continue portraying Trump as connected to Russia, even though the investigation did not convict him. He emphasizes that a special counsel\u2019s job is not to exonerate or convict, and notes that Mueller\u2019s phrasing effectively kept the debate alive rather than delivering a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ai-artist-who-was-denied-ip-claim-says-its-antithetical-to-spirit-of-copyright\/\" title=\"AI actor who was denied an IP claim claims that it is&quot; opposed to the spirit of copyright.&quot;\">clear legal resolution<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-did-a-recent-volcanic-eruption-emit-more-co2-than-mankind-has-ever-produced\/\" title=\"FACT CHECK: Did A Recent Volcanic Eruption Emit More CO2 Than Mankind Has Ever Produced?\">article references<\/a> a New York Times obituary that highlighted Mueller\u2019s career and described his investigation without absolving or accusing Trump,illustrating how the legacy is framed in mainstream media. the author argues that the broader pattern in the Trump era is for prominent figures to undermine voters\u2019 will or self-destruct, while Trump remains in power, and he compares Mueller\u2019s treatment to the scrutiny faced by Comey and others. He concludes that Mueller\u2019s key \u201crevelation\u201d was recognizing that a Republican candidate might appear to benefit from foreign interference, which, in Scarry\u2019s view, is not a crime, and he laments the way the media has used Mueller\u2019s actions. The piece closes with a blunt farewell, suggesting Mueller \u201crest in peace\u201d and that he failed to stay in his lane.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Elqgy-vmHzk\" target=\"_blank\">Yahoo Finance\/YouTube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/23\/robert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Robert%20Mueller%E2%80%99s%20Legacy%20Is%20Self-Destruction%20Because%20He%20Failed%20To%20Stay%20In%20His%20Lane&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/23\/robert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Robert%20Mueller%E2%80%99s%20Legacy%20Is%20Self-Destruction%20Because%20He%20Failed%20To%20Stay%20In%20His%20Lane&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/23\/robert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/23\/robert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Robert%20Mueller%E2%80%99s%20Legacy%20Is%20Self-Destruction%20Because%20He%20Failed%20To%20Stay%20In%20His%20Lane&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/23\/robert-muellers-legacy-is-self-destruction-because-he-failed-to-stay-in-his-lane\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>An enduring piece of Robert Mueller&rsquo;s legacy will be the way he attempted to justify his political assassination on President Trump 1.0 &mdash;&nbsp;the 2017 &ldquo;Russian interference&rdquo; investigation &mdash;&nbsp;by not just saying that he found no crime committed by the president (he didn&rsquo;t) but adding that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/d9\/2024-08\/08.16.24.%20--%20Summary%20Mueller%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the probe<\/a> &ldquo;also does not exonerate him.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>It isn&rsquo;t the job of a special counsel to exonerate anyone. It&rsquo;s also not his job to convict anyone. That gratuitous line in the conclusion of his money pit of an investigation served as nothing more than a lifeline for Democrats and the rabidly anti-American, anti-Trump media to maintain that they had every reason to continue calling the president a Russian agent, though they had none.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-248204891\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>So crucial to Mueller&rsquo;s legacy is it that the New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/21\/us\/politics\/robert-s-mueller-dead.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">obituary<\/a> for his death last week included it in the very first sentence. &ldquo;Robert S. Mueller III, who led the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 12 tumultuous years, brought politically explosive indictments as a special counsel examining Russia&rsquo;s attack on the 2016 presidential election, and then concluded that he could neither absolve nor accuse President Trump of a crime,&rdquo; it said, &ldquo;died on Friday.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Nearly seven years after Mueller released his findings &mdash; such as they were &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/02\/01\/the-corrupted-news-media-are-irredeemable-its-far-too-late-for-a-reckoning-of-the-trump-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">and still<\/a> &ldquo;the walls are closing in,&rdquo; &ldquo;the noose is tightening,&rdquo; and Trump&rsquo;s presidency is &ldquo;at a turning point.&rdquo; At some point, surely, Trump is cooked.<\/p>\n<p>Mueller&rsquo;s great discovery essentially was that a Republican who was running for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-campaign-confirms-he-is-alive-but-only-a-scratchy-voice-recording-has-been-released-no-pictures\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s campaign confirms he is alive, but only a scratchy voice recording has been released, no pictures\">president didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t concede victory because his Democrat opponent was despised by a foreign government, Russia. Trump potentially benefiting from any outside election interference isn&rsquo;t a crime, the same way it&rsquo;s not a crime, inexplicably, for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-one-in-six-biden-voters-would-have-changed-their-vote-if-they-had-known-about-scandals-suppressed-by-media\/\" title=\"Poll: One In Six Biden Voters Would Have Changed Their Vote If They Had Known About Scandals Suppressed By ...\">national news media<\/a> to throw their full weight behind one party to win elections. We might find both scenarios unsavory, but they don&rsquo;t come with prison time, try as hard as Democrats and Mueller might.<\/p>\n<p>This happens all the time in the Trump era. Some figure of middling repute takes it upon him or herself to stop or mitigate the will of the voters who put Trump in the White House, inevitably self-destructing. Michael Avenatti, John Kelly, Miles Taylor, Mark Milley, Andrew McCabe, and on and on. They&rsquo;re all gone. Trump is still here. To wit, after Mueller testified on his investigation in front of Congress, looking every bit as senile as Joe Biden on a day with nice weather, Democrats hastily threw him overboard as if he were deadweight on a sinking ship.<\/p>\n<p>It remains a mystery that former FBI Director James Comey was thoroughly dragged through broken glass for publicly declaring he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/07\/06\/us\/politics\/hillary-clinton-fbi-email-comey.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wouldn&rsquo;t recommend charges,<\/a> declaring &ldquo;no reasonable prosecutor&rdquo; would charge Hillary Clinton for apparently stealing public property (sometimes falsely referred to by Democrats in the media as &ldquo;her emails&rdquo;); but nobody says anything about Mueller unilaterally announcing Trump might be guilty of a crime, without saying which one. Comey was in no position to say what a &ldquo;reasonable prosecutor&rdquo; would or wouldn&rsquo;t do. He was the FBI director, not the attorney general. Likewise, Mueller was in no position to convict or exonerate anyone. He was the special counsel, not a member of a jury.<\/p>\n<p>Rest in peace, Robert Mueller. The world hardly knew you, and you hardly knew how to stay in your lane.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Eddie Scarry is the D.C. columnist at The Federalist and author of &#8220;<a href=\"\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0FR8XCMYC\">Traitors: The Democrat Party&rsquo;s Collapse into Anti-American Filth<\/a>.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Eddie Scarry<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/eScarry\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@eScarry<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/eddiescarry\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/fbi\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">FBI<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/james-comey\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">James Comey<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/robert-mueller\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Robert Mueller<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/russia\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Russia<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/russiagate\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Russiagate<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a paraphrase of the piece you shared:<\/p>\n<p>The author argues that a major part of Robert Mueller\u2019s enduring legacy is how he defended his decision to pursue the 2017 Russia investigation by saying he found no crime by President Trump but that the inquiry \u201cdoes not exonerate\u201d him. The piece stresses that it isn\u2019t a special counsel\u2019s job to exonerate or convict anyone, and that this particular, somewhat pointed line gave Democrats and anti-Trump media a reason to keep labeling Trump a Russian agent even without evidence. The New York Times\u2019 obituary for Mueller even highlights that line in its opening sentence. Even years after Mueller released his limited findings, the usual doom-laden narratives about Trump-walls closing in, a turning point, etc.-still circulate, with the expectation that Trump will eventually be defeated.<\/p>\n<p>The article contends Mueller\u2019s main takeaway was that a Republican candidate didn\u2019t concede victory because his Democrat opponent was disliked by Russia, and that outside interference benefiting Trump isn\u2019t a crime, just as it isn\u2019t a crime for national media to back one party in elections. While both scenarios may be distasteful, they aren\u2019t criminal, according to the author, despite the Democrats and Mueller\u2019s portrayal otherwise. The piece suggests this pattern is common in the Trump era: mid-level figures attempting to curb the voters\u2019 will often end up self-destructing, while Trump remains. After Mueller testified before Congress, Democrats quickly discarded him as a liability.<\/p>\n<p>The author contrasts this with the Comey controversy, noting Comey was harshly condemned for saying he wouldn\u2019t charge Hillary Clinton, while Mueller publicly suggested Trump might be guilty of a crime without naming one. The piece argues Comey wasn\u2019t in a position to say what a \u201creasonable prosecutor\u201d would do, just as Mueller wasn\u2019t in a position to convict or exonerate. The piece concludes with a grave-tinged farewell to Mueller, suggesting he didn\u2019t stay within his proper lane, and closes with the author\u2019s praise of Eddie Scarry, a D.C. columnist for The Federalist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":2583017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Robert-Mueller.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50410,8327,4185,22228,5894],"class_list":["post-2583016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-controversy-2","tag-investigations","tag-legacy","tag-mueller","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Robert-Mueller.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/493"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583016"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2583020,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583016\/revisions\/2583020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2583017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}