Trump says he didn’t attempt to fire Mueller
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday denied that he had ordered the firing of Robert Mueller, the special counsel in the Russia probe, and called reports of the June incident “fake news.”
The New York Times reported Thursday evening that Trump ordered Donald McGahn, his top White House lawyer, to dismiss Mueller just weeks after Mueller took over the Russia investigation. The president relented after McGahn refused to ask the Justice Department to fire Mueller and threatened to quit.
Trump responded to the Times report during a trip to Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, a gathering of world leaders and global business executives.
Upon arrival at the Congress Center in Davos, Trump was greeted by a large group of reporters asking why he had ordered Mueller’s firing.
“Fake news, folks,” Trump replied. “Fake news. Typical New York Times fake story.”
The Times report was based on four people who were told of the matter. On Thursday, Ty Cobb, who manages the White House relationship with Mueller’s office, declined to comment.
Some Democrats were outraged to learn the president had ordered the firing of Mueller last year, even if he eventually backed off.
“I’ve said it before, and I am saying it again: Firing the special counsel is a red line that the president cannot cross,” Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said.
Warner is the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is one of the congressional panels investigating the Trump campaign’s possible ties with Russia.
“Any attempt to remove the special counsel, pardon key witnesses, or otherwise interfere in the investigation would be a gross abuse of power, and all members of Congress, from both parties, have a responsibility to our Constitution and to our country to make that clear immediately,” he said.
Even as some Republicans have tried to discredit the Russia inquiry, some senior Republicans have previously said that they would not support the firing of Mueller.
A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said Friday that the speaker’s position has not changed since Ryan said in June that Mueller should be left alone to do his job. And a spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said Cornyn still thinks it would be a “mistake” to fire the special counsel.
The June incident could emerge as an important part of Mueller’s probe, part of which is looking into whether Trump or anyone in the White House or associated with his campaign obstructed justice by trying to impede investigators looking into the possibility of campaign-related collusion with Russia.
Trump’s order to fire Mueller came in the month after the president did fire FBI Director James Comey, later citing the Russia probe as a reason for his decision.
At the time, Comey was in charge of the FBI’s investigation into collusion with Russia during the election. The firing of Comey in May directly led to Mueller’s appointment.