Robert Mueller says of Roger Stone: "He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so"

Former special counsel Robert Mueller sharply defended his investigation into ties between Russia and President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, writing in a Washington Post opinion piece Saturday that the probe was of "paramount importance" and asserting that Mr.

It represented his firmest defense of the two-year probe whose results have come under attack and even been partially undone by the Trump administration, including the president's extraordinary move Friday evening to grant clemency to Stone just days before he was due to report to prison.

Mueller said that though he had intended for his 448-page report on the investigation to speak for itself, he felt compelled to "respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office."  .

"The Russia investigation was of paramount importance.

In his first public appearance after the conclusion of his investigation, Mueller had said that he had hoped his report would speak for itself.

Even before the report was released Attorney General William Barr issued a four-page summary document that Mueller said did not adequately capture the gravity of his team's findings