Officials deny Trump wants Mueller out, but heat is on
The White House has finally ended a day of speculation about whether Donald Trump is considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, saying the president has “no intention” of doing so.
Still, that statement is unlikely to quell criticism of Mueller from some of Trump’s closest allies — including one of his sons. They have begun questioning whether Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election is becoming too political.
The effort to muddy the waters surrounding the investigation is coming amid growing White House concern that the probe could detract from the president’s agenda for months or years to come. Senators on Tuesday questioned both Attorney-General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein on how the inquiry is being handled.
Until now, Mueller had drawn widespread praise from Republicans and Democrats alike. Trump, who isn’t typically shy about levelling criticism, especially on Twitter, hasn’t commented on the long-time former FBI director. And leading Republican legislators on Tuesday waved off the idea of firing Mueller, with House Speaker Paul Ryan saying that his advice was to “let Robert Mueller do his job” and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voicing confidence in the special counsel.
But expressions of discontent with Mueller are bubbling up nonetheless.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich led one line of attack with a tweet that said “Republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair”. He added that fundraising records show some of the lawyers whom Mueller selected for his team have contributed to Democrats.
“It makes sense to point out any level of bias, to highlight any biases inherent in Mueller and this probe in order to force him to be transparent,” Gingrich said. He said Trump had called him on Monday night and the two discussed Gingrich’s concerns about the probe.
On Tuesday morning, Trump supporter Ari Fleischer, who served as President George W. Bush’s press secretary, again highlighted the issue of Mueller’s probe being handled by attorneys who have donated mostly to Democrats, a message that Donald Trump Jr quickly retweeted to his own 1.7 million followers.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment on the issues Gingrich and others have raised. In general, it is impermissible to ask prospective government hires about their political leanings, including whether they’ve made donations.
Both Fleischer and Gingrich had previously vouched for the character and integrity of Mueller.