US. Department of Justice Office of Legislative Affairs Office ofthe Assistant Attorney General Washingion, D.C. 20530 ‘The Honorable Lindsey ©. Graham JUN 06 2018 United States Senato Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Graham: ‘This responds to your letter to the Deputy Attomey General dated May 31, 2018. When. the Deputy Attorney General took office on April 26,2017, pursuant co his appointment by the President and confirmation by the United States Senate, he became responsible for supervising, ‘every pending matter in the Department of Justice (Department) and reporting dtocty to the ‘Adtomey General." With respect to matters ftom which the Attorney General had recused himself on March 2, 2017 - “investigations of any matters related in any way to the [2016] ‘campaigns for President of the United States"® he became responsible for serving a acting, ‘Attomey General ‘The Deputy Attomey General appointed Robert S. Mueller I asa special counsel to assist the Department by completing ongoing federal investigations of matters potentially related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidental election, The appointment is authorized by ‘statute! and by regulation.* Consistent wit the Department's confidentiality policies and longstanding practices in both special counsel and independent counsel assignments, the appointment order did not identity the specific potential crimes, entities, and persons under investigation. Previously, at a congressional hearing on March 20, 2017, then-FBI Director James Comey disclosed the following information: [The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government’ efforts to interfere inthe 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and ‘whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russi aap aw comelL data /280.15 aap wi juste go/op/priome-asneral sins: satemenrecsa 2m aw comelL eds “so nw somel edu ftext 2p. 600 pe le sins1-7.110,‘The Honorable Lindsey 0. Graham Page Two efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation, thi include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed.® also Consistent with ethics rules, federal regulations, and confidentiality policies, the Department should not publicly comment about any federal investigation unless we fle eriminal charges or ‘compelling law-enforcement interests require it. Even then, we limit our comments fo matters in the public record. Therefore, the appointment order included no information beyond what Mr ‘Comey had disclosed at the congressional hearing. “Through the special counsel, the Department now has filed criminal charges in several cases, We cannot comment about aly ongoing investigation beyond the details made public in connection with those cases. Department atoreys are governed by rules of professional esponsibility and ‘government ethics regulation. Investigations of ongoing efforts by foreign agents to influence ‘our government are complex and extraordinarily important. Nonetheless, the Deputy Attorney General would recuse from all or part of any matter if ecusal were deemed appropriate b Department oficials who are informed abou the mater. Otherwise, he has a responsibility to full his oath to well and fathfllyexcout the duties oF is office ‘We hope this information is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact this ofice if we may provide additional assistance regarding this or any other matter. rely, en E. Boyd stant Attorney General Sao p01 7102/20 rans festa comey- ‘ssllesn-nusin-nrfeence-n-201 lett trn= Teas.