Two Trump-appointed judges, both asked to consider whether a special counsel can investigate the former president and his allies, have now produced two wildly different outcomes — a sign, perhaps, of how reactionaries on the federal judiciary have been emboldened over the years and now feel at liberty to rule as they wish.
Six years ago, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2017, ruled that the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller had not exceeded his authority by prosecuting associates of the man who appointed her, adding that his original appointment to the position “does not violate” the Constitution nor its “core separation of-powers principles.” Three other federal judges who considered that exact question ruled the same.
