# Does Mueller have the authority to investigate any Trump-China ties **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mueller-have-the-authority-to-investigate-any-trump-china-ties/788035 "2017-06-03T20:37:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mueller-have-the-authority-to-investigate-any-trump-china-ties/788035/1 "2017-06-03T20:37:13Z")
My understanding is Mueller can investigate Trump-Russia ties related to the election of 2016. However the report written by Christopher Steele says that the Trump campaign was more worried about Trump-China ties than Trump-Russia ties, that Trump had engaged in a lot of bribery and kickbacks in China. Does Mueller have the authority to investigate Trump-China ties? What if those ties are unrelated to the 2016 election? Say Trump engaged in criminal acts with China in 2012 that are unrelated to the election, would Mueller be able to investigate or prosecute those? ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mueller-have-the-authority-to-investigate-any-trump-china-ties/788035/2 "2017-06-04T04:48:23Z")
If in the course of his investigation he turns up evidence of illegal activity relating to China, of course he can pursue it, but I don’t think he can start there. No doubt an actual lawyer will be by soon with a better explanation, but I think it’s fairly common for criminal investigations to morph and expand as additional information is uncovered stemming from the original mandate. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mueller-have-the-authority-to-investigate-any-trump-china-ties/788035/3 "2017-06-04T14:38:13Z")
Do you recall Kenneth Starr? Appointed to investigate a real estate deal that might have been slightly shady–but remember, the Clintons lost money on it–and finding nothing actionable, he quickly veered into Clinton’s sex life. So I assume that a special prosecutor can go off on any tangent he likes. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mueller-have-the-authority-to-investigate-any-trump-china-ties/788035/4 "2017-06-04T17:30:02Z")
Starr asked for and got permission from Reno to expand the investigation. Why she allowed him to get into the Lewinski thing is _incredibly_ puzzling. There was no federal charge at all to investigate! (The only matter came up _later_ when the definitions of 3rd base vs. all the way caused a Constitutional crisis.) This happened in other matters during the Clinton years as well. Resulting in pointless investigations that got bogged down into who said what _after_ the investigation started rather than any actual previous crime. Give me millions of dollars and the right to subpoena any politician and I’ll find far worse stuff. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-mueller-have-the-authority-to-investigate-any-trump-china-ties/788035/5 "2017-06-04T20:07:07Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Do you recall Kenneth Starr? Appointed to investigate a real estate deal that might have been slightly shady–but remember, the Clintons lost money on it–and finding nothing actionable, he quickly veered into Clinton’s sex life. So I assume that a special prosecutor can go off on any tangent he likes. Starr was an independent prosecutor, not a special counsel. The former has much wider discretion to act on his own accord, but independent prosecutors no longer exist. Mueller’s [appointment letter](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/17/us/politics/document-Robert-Mueller-Special-Counsel-Russia.html) authorizes him to investigate > [@](#): > > (i) any links and/or coordination bet ween the Russian government and individuals > associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and > (ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and > (iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a). So if evidence arises during his investigation that there may be crimes relating to Trump’s relationship with China, he could choose to investigate that.