Washington certainly didn't need another reason for citizens to doubt its integrity, but this one strikes at the very heart of the government's ability to investigate and remove corruption: the Department of Justice's appointment of a special prosecutor to look into the allegations of "collusion" by Trump team members with the Russian government.

The appointment is loaded with political overtones. First, former FBI Director James Comey admitted he leaked information to prompt the appointment of a special prosecutor to the case, for which no evidence has surfaced. Then, the person appointed turned out to be Comey's good buddy, former FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich charged Mueller is stacking the deck, hiring lawyers for the "independent" investigation who have repeatedly donated to Democratic causes, including a lawyer who worked for the Clinton Foundation.

Fox News commentator Gregg Jarrett wrote that Mueller has a "flagrant conflict … that disqualifies him from serving."

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"To wit, his personal and professional closeness to Comey. They have long been allies. Comey regards his predecessor at the FBI as a mentor, while Mueller considers Comey his protege."

Mueller was appointed by Rod Rosenstein, the acting attorney general, after Comey leaked memos of his conversations with President Trump to the New York Times.

"The law governing the special counsel … specifically prohibits Mueller from serving if he has a 'conflict of interest.' Even the appearance of a conflict is disallowed," Jarrett said.

"The same Code of Federal Regulations defines what constitutes a conflict. That is, 'a personal relationship with any person substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution.' … Comey is that person. He was substantially involved in the conversation with President Trump who may be the subject of an obstruction investigation. In fact, the former director is the only other person involved."

At LawNews, commentator Robert Barnes said Mueller "must" step away from any parts of the investigation involving Comey.

He pointed out DOJ rules state that no employee "may participate in a criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with any person or organization substantially involved."

According to media reports and the "near unanimity of those who know both, Mueller enjoys an 'unusual friendship' with Comey in their closeness," he wrote.

He noted that multiple analyses, "several by liberal-leaning Democratic law scholars and lawyers," set out four grounds on which Comey could face prosecution.

The grounds include perjury for several different statement he made, including "he only released details of his memos after President Trump tweeted about taped conversations, when a New York Times story from the day before the tweet strongly suggests otherwise," as well as violating records laws in "removing and leaking FBI memos to the New York Times."

All of which was prelude to Gingrich's comment that he was wary of Mueller's team because he can't trust "somebody who can only hire Democrats."

"In this kind of environment, I don't give the benefit of the doubt to somebody who can only hire Democrats, but claims that we ought to trust him," Gingrich said on "CBS This Morning."

He also was on "The Laura Ingraham Show" to talk about the early hires by Mueller.

"Republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair," he said.

The Free Beacpon reported that among Mueller's hires are two lawyers who gave the maximum contribution to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and another who donated to former President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

LifeZette reported Gingrich's comments "sparked a mini-meltdown in the media."

The report said four top lawyers hired by Mueller have contributed tens of thousands of dollars over the years to the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates, including Obama and Clinton.

"One of the hires, Jeannie Rhee, also worked as a lawyer for the Clinton Foundation and helped persuade a federal judge to block a conservative activist's attempts to force Bill and Hillary Clinton to answer questions under oath about operations of the family-run charity."

The report details the full extent of financial support for Democrats by the lawyers.

"Media pundits generally dismissed concerns over the Democratic Party ties of the staff Mueller is building," the report said.

The New York Times speculated Trump would fire Mueller.

But the White House reported the source of that information "never spoke to the president regarding this issue."

Even the Times conceded the "idea that the investigation is illegitimate and politically motivated has been gaining currency on the political right for months."

The investigation was prompted by speculation – many months ago – from former CIA Director John Brennan that someone connected to Trump's campaign may have had interactions with Russian officials.

But no evidence has surfaced that the interactions were inappropriate.

What to today's top authors have to say about Washington? Find out at the WND Superstore in "Socialism: A Clear and Present Danger," "Throw Them All Out," "Inside the Beltway," "Capitol Punishment" and many more.