; Whereas, on May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to oversee the Russia investigation; Whereas the order appointing Special Counsel Mueller confers upon him broad authority to conduct the investigation confirmed by then-FBI Director James B. Comey in testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017, including: (i) any links and/or coordination between 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. ; Whereas, on July 20, 2017, according to media reports, Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation of possible ties between the Donald Trump Presidential campaign and Russia in the 2016 Presidential election is expanding to include a broad range of transactions involving Trump’s businesses as well as those of his associates; Whereas these questionable transactions are reported to include Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump’s involvement in a SoHo development in New York with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008; Whereas in an interview with the New York Times published July 19, 2017, President Trump acknowledged that digging into his finances would constitute a red line that the Special Counsel should not cross while carrying out the Russia investigation; Whereas, on July 21, 2017, the Washington Post reported that some of President Trump’s lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut Special Counsel Mueller’s Russia investigation and discussing President Trump’s authority to grant pardons; Whereas according to the Washington Post article, Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe.