Sound and Fury: The appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible Trump campaign collusion is a blow to the already-troubled presidency. It sets loose a hunting dog who will not relent until he gets to the truth.

Trump tweeted this morning, “With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special councel appointed!” That’s “counsel,” Mr. President.

And, he wrote, “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a statement, “My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination.” It was Rosenstein’s decision because AG Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself from the Russia matter.

Mueller’s appointment gives him the power to chase the investigation anywhere it leads. He will answer to Rosenstein, and ultimately the president, but if they thwart or dismiss him, it will be at their peril.

The announcement came the same day that Trump whined to graduates of the Coast Guard Academy about how unfairly he has been treated as president. “Look at the way I’ve been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say with surety, has been treated worse, more unfairly.”

Mixing an inspirational message with Nixonian personal grievance, Trump said, “You can’t let them get you down. You can’t let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams.”

As if the day wasn’t messy enough, The NY Times posted a story saying the Trump transition team knew that Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn was under investigation for being a paid lobbyist for Turkey before Trump appointed him National Security Adviser, giving Flynn access to the nation’s biggest secrets.

On the Money: Stocks dove yesterday on doubts that President Trump will be able to carry out his tax and economic agenda. Republican leaders are already expressing doubt about overhauling the tax code this year. The Dow Jones was down 373 points.

Dumb and Dumberer: President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos want to cut public education programs by $10.6 billion and begin shifting money to expanded charter school and vouchers for private and religious schools, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. Both Trump and DeVos have said they want to reduce the role of the federal government in public education.

Freedom: Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier who, as Bradley Manning, leaked a trove of secret documents to WikiLeaks, was released from prison yesterday 28 years early. Manning spent seven years in prison before President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence.

Nation: Immigration arrests jumped 38 percent in the first three months of the year as the Trump administration carries out its campaign against illegal immigrants. — Wild Chinook salmon could disappear from the waters of California by the end of the century, according to a report released this week. The report says climate change, dams, and agriculture are killing the fish that is the core of the California fishing industry. — A new federal lawsuit accuses Baylor University football players of gang raping young women as a “bonding” experience. University President Ken Starr and the football coach were fired last year for mishandling allegations against the football team.

Hard Knocks: The NFL is scrambling after Giselle Bündchen told CBS News that her husband, New England quarterback Tom Brady, has had multiple concussions never reported to the league. “Football, like, he had a concussion last year,” Bündchen said. “I mean, he has concussions pretty much every — I mean, we don’t talk about — but he does have concussions.”

The Obit Page: Chris Cornell, the vocal leader of the grunge band Soundgarden, died suddenly after a show in Detroit last night at age 52. The cause of death was not immediately evident.

Low Tech to Go: While we all wait for the next Apple gadget that will change life on earth, company engineers have quietly invented a recyclable paper box that keeps pizza from going soggy while being delivered. Buzzfeed reports that the circular containers have been used on the Apple campus for years. They have ridges in the bottom that prevent steam from condensing under the crust. The amazing thing is that the boxes never need charging.

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