White House thinks he can on his own, spokeswoman says

President Donald Trump has been advised he has authority to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, a White House spokeswoman said, but top Republicans in Congress warned that doing so may put his presidency at risk.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made clear Tuesday that the White House has explored Trump’s authority to fire Mueller, after the president’s angry response to a raid Monday on the New York office and hotel room of his longtime lawyer and legal fixer, Michael Cohen.

“We’ve been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision,” she said. “I know a number of individuals in the legal community, and including at the Department of Justice, said he has the power to do so.”

Under Justice Department regulations, only Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation, can fire Mueller. In addition, the regulations state that a special counsel can only be removed “for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause, including violation of Departmental policies.”

But Trump spent Monday evening calling associates to vent and gauge their reaction to the news of the Cohen raid. The president was the most irate his advisers had seen him in weeks, according to five people familiar with the president’s views but not authorized to discuss them.

Monday, he had called the probe “an attack on our country” and, asked whether he would fire Mueller, said, “We’ll see what happens.” He kept it up Tuesday morning, tweeting that “Attorney-client privilege is dead!”

Cohen has steadfastly denied wrongdoing in his payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who said she had sex with Trump in 2006, and has publicly defended the president, but he has confided in associates that he is fearful of being a fall guy, according to a person familiar with his thinking but not authorized to speak publicly.

All of the developments prompted new warnings from senior Republicans in Congress who said it would be a major mistake, even political “suicide,” for Trump 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.”

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said earlier on the Fox Business Network that “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, R-Ky., said Mueller should “be allowed to finish the job.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., sponsor of a bipartisan bill written to protect Mueller, said Tuesday he wants the Judiciary Committee to act now on the legislation.

Tillis also said he is discussing how to merge that bill, which he co-sponsors with Chris Coons, D-Del., with a competing bipartisan bill sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Cory Booker, D-N.J. The two bills take different approaches in protecting Mueller, but neither has moved forward as Republican leaders have called them unnecessary.

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.

“Why not pass the legislation now and avoid a constitutional crisis?” Schumer said later.