Trump says he doesn’t plan on firing Mueller
Dismissal rumors were generated by media, he says
President Trump says he does not intend to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, whose federal investigation into Russia’s election meddling he frequently denounces as a “witch hunt” or a “hoax.”
“I haven’t given it any thought,” Trump told reporters. “I’ve been reading about it from you people. You say, ‘Oh, I’m going to dismiss him.’ No, I’m not dismissing anybody.”
Trump says he supports the Russia investigations, including those taking place on Capitol Hill, where multiple panels also are investigating possible collusion between Trump associates and Russians who sought to influence the 2016 presidential election.
“I want them to get on with the task,” Trump said. “But I also want the Senate and the House to come out with their findings.”
Trump once again insisted that he did not collude with Russia. “We have an investigation of something that never took place,” he said.
For weeks, Washington politi-
cal circles have been on alert for the possibility that Trump would remove Mueller or otherwise try to assert greater control of the federal Russia inquiry.
Yet earlier this week, Trump’s chief lawyer indicated the president was looking to cooperate with Mueller.
Through his lawyer John Dowd, Trump has sent private messages of “appreciation and greetings” to the special counsel, as USA TODAY first reported on Tuesday.
“He appreciates what Bob Mueller is doing,” Dowd said. “He asked me to share that with him and that’s what I’ve done.”
Firing Mueller, Dowd said, has “never been on the table.”
Trump has said previously that Mueller’s job is not necessary because he hasn’t done anything wrong, and he has accused him of having unspecified conflicts of interest.
After Trump publicly attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month, lawmakers from both parties have introduced legislation that would require judges to to review any presidential firing, and force the president to provide specific legal reasons for taking such action.
Trump cannot fire Mueller directly, but he can fire Sessions. And a new, more pliable attorney general — without conflicts in the Russia investigation — could oust the special counsel.
Trump, who had criticized Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, said Thursday that their relationship is “is what it is. It’s fine.”
None of the debate over his tenure has deterred Mueller, who is using at least two grand juries — in Virginia and Washington, D.C. — to advance the Russia investigation.
The clearest sign of the investigation’s escalation came Wednesday when a spokesman for Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort confirmed that FBI agents had raided Manafort’s Virginia home last month — a move that “surprised” Trump.
“I thought it was a very, very strong signal,” the president said, adding that he had not spoken with Manafort for some time. “They (the FBI) do that very seldom, so I was surprised to see it. I was very, very surprised to see it.”
Asked whether the pre-dawn raid was appropriate, Trump said: “You’d have to ask them (the FBI). I’ve always found Paul Manafort to be a very decent man. He’s like a lot of other people, probably makes consultant fees from all over the place.
“I don’t know,” Trump said, referring to the July 26 raid, “but I thought it was pretty tough stuff to wake him up, perhaps his family was there.”
The raid, first reported by The Washington Post, targeted financial records and other materials as part of Mueller’s wide-ranging inquiry. Manafort’s dealings on behalf of pro-Russia interests in Ukraine has been a long-running focus of federal authorities.