D.C. Court of Appeals Ruled Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Appointment was Lawful

A three-judge panel out of D.C. ruled that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment was constitutional and upheld a contempt order issued on Roger Stone associate Andrew Miller, court documents said Tuesday.

The 16-page ruling written by Circuit Judge Judith Rogers and joined unanimously by Circuit Judges Sri Srinivasan, and Karen Henderson, states, “Special Counsel Mueller was properly appointed by a head of Department, who at the time was the Acting Attorney General.”

Courthouse News reports, that Miller’s attorney Paul Kramenar, argued that “no law allows the attorney general to appoint a private attorney as an inferior officer, and that no law contains language that specifically authorizes a department head to appoint an inferior officer.”

According to Courthouse News, the panel of Judges, agreed with the Government that after former Attorney General Jeff Session recused himself, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “complied with the Constitution’s appointment clause, which allows a department head to appoint an inferior officer, who is then supervised and directed by a presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed officer.”

Judge Rogers writes, “Because the Special Counsel is an inferior officer, and the Deputy Attorney General became the head of the Department by virtue of becoming the Acting Attorney General as a result of a vacancy created by the disability of the Attorney General through recusal on the matter, we hold that Miller’s challenge to the appointment of the Special Counsel fails.”

Miller’s attorney said in a statement via CNN, that Tuesday’s ruling was “disappointing”, adding that they will “be considering future legal action, whether before the full court of appeals or the Supreme Court.”

For What It’s Worth:

As CNN notes, Mueller’s appointment has been held up by “four lower court federal judges, including one appointed by President Donald Trump.”

According to United State Court of Appeals.gov Judge Rogers was appointed in 1994, while Judge Henderson was appointed in 1990, the newest member of the Court, is Judge Srinivasan who was appointed in 2013.