Donald Trump told he has power to fire Robert Mueller, White House says, as president rages about FBI raid
US President Donald Trump said ‘we’ll see’ when asked if he might fire Mueller, whose tip-off led to the FBI raiding Trump’s personal lawyer’s office and hotel room
US President Donald Trump has been advised that he has authority to fire special counsel Robert Mueller – the man behind the investigation into alleged collusion between his election campaign and Russia – as top Republicans in Congress warned that doing so may put his presidency at risk.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday shifted the administration’s message on Trump’s attitude toward Mueller after the president’s angry response to a raid on the office of his long-time lawyer.
“We’ve been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision,” she said, in a response to a question that suggests the White House has explored the matter.
Three weeks ago, when asked about Republicans warning against interfering with the investigation, Sanders repeated a statement by Trump lawyer Ty Cobb that Trump “is not considering or discussing” firing Mueller.
As Mueller’s investigation drew closer to the president’s inner circle with an FBI raid on Trump’s lawyer’s office and hotel room on Monday, the president lashed out, calling the inquiry “a disgrace” and “an attack on our country”.
He also complained on Twitter that “Attorney-client privilege is dead!” and that the raid was “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT”. Asked whether he would fire Mueller, Trump said, “We’ll see what happens.”
That prompted new warnings from senior Republicans in Congress who said it would be a major mistake or even political suicide to fire Mueller.
“I don’t think the president’s going to fire him. That would be a big mistake,” John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said Tuesday.
Cornyn declined to say how Congress would react to a Mueller firing or whether that might trigger impeachment proceedings. “I don’t think he or I or anybody could predict what the consequences might be. So I think, just let Mr Mueller do his job.”
Trump furious after FBI raids office of his personal lawyer
Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said earlier on the Fox Business Network, “It would be suicide for the president to want to talk about firing Mueller.”
“The main thing here is I have confidence in Mueller, the president ought to have confidence in Mueller,” Grassley said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Mueller should “be allowed to finish the job”.
The execution of search warrants at the office and hotel room of long-time Trump lawyer Michael Cohen marked a new phase in the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump’s campaign collaborated with the Russians.
It came as a result of evidence that Mueller’s team of prosecutors obtained, but the US attorney for the Southern District of New York – a Trump appointee – was responsible for authorising the raid.
The FBI seized records relating to Karen McDougal, the former Playboy Playmate who said she had a 10-month affair with Trump, and Stephanie Clifford, the porn star known as Stormy Daniels, who said she had sex with Trump once, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Both McDougal and Clifford signed non-disclosure agreements just before Trump’s election, with Daniels taking US$130,000 from Cohen and McDougal accepting US$150,000 from American Media Inc, owner of the National Enquirer.
Trump under investigation but not a criminal target. Is he off the hook?
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican sponsor of a bipartisan bill written to protect Mueller, said Tuesday that he wanted the Judiciary Committee to act on the legislation now.
Tillis also said he is discussing how to merge that bill, which he cosponsors with Delaware Democrat Chris Coons, with a competing bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat.
The two bills take different approaches in protecting Mueller, but neither has moved forward as Republican leaders have called it unnecessary.
The Tillis-Coons proposal would allow special counsels to contest their firings before a three-judge panel, which can order reinstatement.
The bill from Graham and Booker would require that any action by the attorney general or acting attorney general to remove a special counsel from office must first be reviewed by a panel of federal judges.
Dutch lawyer linked to Trump campaign jailed for 30 days in Russia probe
Two senior Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner of Virginia, said Tuesday that firing Mueller would cross a line with Congress.
Schumer, during a speech on the Senate floor, called for passage of legislation to prevent Mueller from being removed.
Later Tuesday, Schumer reiterated to reporters that while Republicans for months have claimed there is no reason to pass legislation to protect Mueller, “Let’s not wait until it’s too late.”
“Why not pass the legislation now and avoid a constitutional crisis?” Schumer said.
Warner, speaking with reporters, said he would not be “lured” into talking about impeachment at this point. But he said he has been saying that the firing of Mueller, or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, or pardoning of Trump family members, “is a red line that can’t be crossed”.
“And my hope would be that this president would take advice from his own Republican senators who said those actions would start the beginning of the end of his presidency,” Warner said.
