He was a special prosecutor charged with investigating a sitting president, but as he closed in he came under fierce attack.

His investigation was repeatedly denounced by the president's allies as a partisan witch hunt that had roamed far afield from its original mandate and should be shut down as quickly as possible.

No, we're not talking about Robert Mueller, the Justice Department special counsel conducting the Russia investigation.

We're talking about Ken Star, the independent counsel, who was assigned to investigate Bill Clinton's whitewater real estate deal only to hit paid herd of assault when he discovered the existence of Monica Lewinsky.

He's our special guest on today's episode of Skull Duggery.

There is absolutely no collusion. I didn't make a phone call to Russia. I have nothing to do with Russia. Everybody knows it.

Because people have got to know whether or not their presidents are corrupt, but I'm not a crook.

I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my destined tension still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.

I did not have sexual relations with that woman. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

Many times you have to answer this question. Russia is a ruse.

I'm Michael Isacop, Chief Investigative correspondent for Yahoo News. And I'm Dan Clydeman, Editor in Chief of Yahoo News.

So Dan Mueller's investigation seems to be gaining traction even when he's not doing all that much.

And this week is a classic example. The bombshell report from the New York Times that Trump's then lawyer, John Dowd, was floating the idea of pardons for Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort in the middle of the investigation last year.

Yeah. And this is, there had been some reporting that Trump had asked about pardons. He's been taught to his lawyers about it.

But this is kind of stunning. And raises all sorts of questions about how it could actually fit into Mueller's investigation itself.

I mean, obstruction. I mean, if you float the idea of pardoning a key witness, somebody who Mueller wants to hear the unvarnished truth from, you are arguably impeding with Mueller's investigation.

It does put a new twist on the story we broke last year. Just about this time Flynn is having dinner just about this time a year ago, March of last year, having dinner with some close friends and then tells them afterwards he just got in a message from president Trump telling him to quote, stay strong.

Those words stay strong. Now given the the pardon idea, because what's in his new meaning?

What's in maybe implied in that message from Trump is stay strong and we'll take care of you.

And it's just quickly one other thing I want to say quickly, which is that, you know, if this should become part of Mueller's obstruction investigation raises the kind of intriguing possibility that John Dowd becomes a witness in this case.

And of course, Mueller has, you know, he's been pretty aggressive when it comes to sort of the attorney client privilege and exceptions to that privilege.

As was I should point out our guest today, Ken Star, when he had a similar job, right, independent council, just a couple of other stories worth mentioning, you know, I say Mueller didn't file any new charges this week, but there was this fascinating filing in in the case of a of one of his targets, Alex Vandorswan, the Dutch lawyer

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