The White House was reportedly not aware of the special counsel appointment until shortly before it was made public on Wednesday.



According to a report by CNN, Trump was meeting FBI director candidates when the White House was informed that a special counsel was appointed to oversee the Russia investigation.



"It's still sinking in," one administration official said told CNN. "We were told about it. Not asked about it."



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The Justice Department on Wednesday made the decision to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to spearhead the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, including possible coordination between Russian government officials and members of Trump's campaign.

The decision was made in the wake of reports that claimed that Trump asked now-ousted FBI Director James Comey to consider dropping the FBI's investigation of the former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Monday said that there is "no need" for a special prosecutor, arguing that the ongoing investigations are enough to adequately probe the allegations.

"There's, frankly, no need for a special prosecutor. We've discussed this before," Spicer said according to CNN.

"You have two Senate committees that are looking into this. The FBI is conducting their own review. And — and I think if you even look at what acting Director [Andrew] McCabe said last week, he made it very clear that they have the resources that they need and that the work continues."