FILE - In this June 21, 2017, file photo, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a closed door meeting in Washington. A 2001 Justice Department memo warned that no nation, including the United States, was immune from the threat posed by Russian organized crime. The special counsel investigation is bringing attention to Russian efforts to meddle in democratic processes, the type of intelligence gathering that in the past has relied on hired hackers. It’s not clear how much the probe by Mueller will center on the criminal underbelly of Moscow, but he’s already picked some lawyers with experience confronting organized crime. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE - In this June 21, 2017, file photo, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a closed door meeting in Washington. A 2001 Justice Department memo warned that no nation, including the United States, was immune from the threat posed by Russian organized crime. The special counsel investigation is bringing attention to Russian efforts to meddle in democratic processes, the type of intelligence gathering that in the past has relied on hired hackers. It’s not clear how much the probe by Mueller will center on the criminal underbelly of Moscow, but he’s already picked some lawyers with experience confronting organized crime. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Credit: ap photograph

Washington — Robert S. Mueller III was greeted with near universal praise when he was appointed to lead the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, but as he builds his special counsel team, his every hire is under scrutiny.

At least seven of the 15 lawyers Mueller has brought on to the special counsel team have donated to Democratic political candidates, five of them to Hillary Clinton — a fact that President Donald Trump and his allies have eagerly highlighted. These critics also point to some of the lawyers’ history working with clients connected to the Clintons and Mueller’s long history with former FBI director James Comey as they question whether those assigned to the investigation can be impartial.

Many lawyers and ethics experts say they can see no significant legal or ethical concerns with the team’s political giving or past work, and they note that Trump often misstates the facts as he casts aspersions. But others say the optical problem is a real one that threatens to undermine public confidence in the probe.

“In my view, prosecutors who make political contributions are identifying fairly strongly with a political party,” said William P. Barr, who served as attorney general under George H.W. Bush. “I would have liked to see him have more balance on this group.”

Criticizing those conducting an investigation is not a new tactic: Democrats famously put Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr in the crosshairs during his examination of President Bill Clinton. And by raising questions about the investigators early, legal analysts said, Trump is laying the groundwork to question any results that are not to his liking.

“By staking out the position of partisanship through campaign contributions, the president simply is setting a stage for a public relations assault down the road,” said Jacob Frenkel, a defense lawyer at Dickinson Wright who previously worked in the now-defunct Office of the Independent Counsel.

Trump has called the special counsel’s investigation the “single greatest witch hunt in American political history,” adding that it was “led by some very bad and conflicted people!” In a more recent interview on Fox News, the president said that Mueller was “very, very good friends with Comey, which is very bothersome,” and that “the people that have been hired are all Hillary Clinton supporters, some of them worked for Hillary Clinton.”

“I mean the whole thing is ridiculous, if you want to know the truth from that standpoint,” Trump said. “But Robert Mueller’s an honorable man and hopefully he’ll come up with an honorable solution.”

Asked if Mueller would have to recuse himself, he said, “We’re going to have to see.”

Trump supporters have raised similar concerns. Former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich wrote on Twitter that Republicans were “delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair.” The pro-Trump group Great America Alliance released a video in which conservative commentator Tomi Lahren opined, “Only in Washington could a rigged game like this be called independent.”

But Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a strong Trump backer who has recused himself from the Russia probe, was more circumspect in an interview with Fox & Friends on Friday.

“Mr. Mueller is entitled lawfully, I guess at this point, to hire who he desires, but I think he should look for people who have strength and credibility by all people,” Sessions said.

Pressed on whether he had confidence in Mueller, Sessions said: “I feel confident in what he’ll do. That’s all I can say to you about that.”

Mueller has brought in 15 attorneys to work with him — among them former colleagues at the firm WilmerHale and veteran Justice Department lawyers, said Peter Carr, a spokesman for the Special Counsel’s Office. Only 13 have been publicly identified.

Put together, the team is a formidable collection of legal talent and expertise with experience prosecuting national security, fraud and public corruption cases, arguing matters before the Supreme Court and assessing complicated legal questions.

The team members include Michael Dreeben, a Justice Department deputy solicitor general who has argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court; Andrew Weissmann, the chief of the Justice Department’s fraud section; James Quarles, who worked as an assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force; and Jeannie Rhee, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel who also came from WilmerHale.

Rhee was on the team representing the Clinton Foundation, and another lawyer working with the special counsel, Aaron Zebley, once represented Clinton aide Justin Cooper. Zebley was Mueller’s chief of staff when Mueller served as FBI director.

Carr confirmed to The Washington Post that Brandon Van Grack, a Justice Department national security division prosecutor; Rush Atkinson, a trial attorney in the fraud section; and Andrew D. Goldstein, who had headed the public corruption unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York; and Zainab Ahmad, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York specializing in terrorism cases, also had been assigned to work with the group. Goldstein had worked in the office under U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by Trump after he refused to resign upon request and who has said publicly that he had unusual exchanges with the president. Ahmad was recently profiled by the New Yorker for having prosecuted 13 terrorism cases without a single loss.

Seven special counsel team members have donated to Democratic campaigns — five of those to Clinton’s — and their giving totals nearly $53,000. The other six that are publicly known to be on the team did not give any political contributions, records show.

Ethics experts said the giving should not preclude anyone’s participation. Justice Department policies and federal law actually prohibit discriminating based on political affiliation when it comes to hiring for nonpolitical positions — meaning Mueller might feel he cannot consider donation history when he makes hires.

“Bottom line is, I don’t see how donations are relevant,” said Richard Painter, who was the ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. “I’ve never heard of a single case where a prosecutor has been removed because of a political donation.”

Quarles’ donations were the most substantial. Over two decades, he gave more than $30,000 to various Democratic campaigns, including $2,700 to Clinton’s in 2016. But Quarles has also given to Republicans, contributing $2,500 in 2015 to Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and $250 to then-Sen. George Allen, R-Va., in 2005.

Ethics experts said they see no reason Mueller — who had previously registered as a Republican — would have a conflict.