Trump mulls firing dy attorney general

US President Donald Trump was so incensed by the FBI’s raid of his personal attorney’s office and hotel room that he’s privately pondered firing deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and publicly mused about ousting special counsel Robert Mueller.

The raid, in which agents seized attorney Michael Cohen’s records on topics including a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels who alleges she had sex with Trump, left him more angry than advisers had seen him in weeks, according to five people familiar with the president’s views.

Trump tweeted on Tuesday that “Attorney-client privilege is dead!” Nervous White House aides expressed new fears about Trump’s unpredictability in the face of the raid, which he viewed as an assault on a longtime defender and a sign that Mueller’s probe into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign was “going too far.”

Trump also expressed confidence in the loyalty displayed by Cohen, his longtime personal and professional fixer, who ascended to one of the most powerful roles at the Trump Organization not filled by a family member. Cohen has steadfastly denied wrongdoing in his $130,000 payment Daniels and has publicly defended Trump, but he has confided in associates that he is fearful of being a fall guy

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made clear that White House officials have explored Trump’s authority to fire Mueller. “He certainly believes that he has the power to do so,” she said on Tuesday.

Under justice department regulations, only Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation, can fire Mueller. AP

WASHINGTON: