I agree that "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump" is, taken alone, pretty vague. But Rosenstein and Mueller are privy to specific open case files. The grant can;t disclose the specifics for the same reason the FBI doesn't disclose the existence of an investigation.
-- The Special Counsel appointment should have been tied to the investigation of specific crimes ... --
I agree with that, and I don't think that was met. Comey's bogus "muh Russia" myth is a political issue, stuffed into a criminal law mold. I don't think the 600.1 predicate exists.
-- in particular the alleged hacking of the DNC and Podesta computers and any criminal conspiracy involving US persons or others in connection therewith. --
I see that as distant from Comey's March 20 testimony disclosing the existence of investigations into coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump. Mueller comes at this from only two directions to start. Evidence of Russian government activity that leads to the Trump campaign, or evidence of Trump campaign activity that leads to the Russian government. The DNC and Podesta hacks don't fit either one of those.
Assume for the sake of argument that the Russian government in fact worked to torpedo crooked Hillary. That doesn't mean the action was coordinated with team Trump. And if the Russian government wanted to lend Trump a secret hand, they would make sure they DIDN'T contact team Trump.
Other than process crimes, I don't think Mueller has anything to work with.
All that said, he could be just as faithful to "the law" as the 4th Circuit is, and stretch the law in absurd ways. There is quite a bit of that going around.
I'm much less sanguine on this.
The other matters language in the letter does not track the process crimes boilerplate. It is broader. As a matter of textual interpretation, it will be interpreted to mean something more than the process crimes.
I agree Mueller started off with nothing to work with. There is no and will not be evidence of a Trump conspiracy with the Russian government to commit election-related crimes, or we would have heard about it from Obama's intel agencies months ago.
But Comey has given them something to work with regarding the alleged obstruction of justice.
And with a broad investigative mandate of any link of anything Trump to the Russian government, soon the grand jury subpoenas will fly and Trump's entire life and the entire business of The Trump Organization will be scoured, on the premise that any evidence of any crime whatsoever that turns up in the investigation can be prosecuted.