Three House Republicans call for Mueller to resign
WASHINGTON — Three House Republicans submitted a resolution Friday calling for Robert S. Mueller III to step down as special counsel of the investigation into ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Arizona’s Andy Biggs, and Texas’ Louie Gohmert introduced the resolution four days after investigators indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and two other former aides to the president.
Among the charges against Manafort was conspiracy against the United States.
The resolution filed Friday claims Mueller, the former director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013, is “compromised” and that he should “resign from his special counsel position immediately.”
The resolution alleges poor handling of an FBI investigation into Russian corruption in 2009 of an American uranium-trucking company, in which no charges were filed.
It also says the FBI exercised “willful blindness” when it declined to investigate former President Bill Clinton and his wife, 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, for a U.S.-approved uranium sale to a Russian company in 2010. Hillary Clinton was secretary of state at the time.
“These deeply troubling events took place when Mr. Mueller was the Director of the FBI,” Gaetz said in a statement. “As such, his impartiality is hopelessly compromised. He must step down immediately.”
Biggs has consistently hammered Mueller and has referred to the investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia the “Mueller witch hunt.”
“Mueller is incapable of leading a focused, unbiased investigation,” Biggs said in a press release Wednesday.
“I continue to demand his recusal while supporting the joint investigation by the House Judiciary and Oversight committees to hold hearings concerning the DNC and Clinton campaign collusion and other potential crimes under the former administration.
House Democrats have said their Republican colleagues have worked to discredit the special investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
After the indictments Monday, GOP leaders remained tight-lipped about the investigation.
“I really don’t have anything to add other than nothing’s going to derail what we’re doing in Congress,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin said during a radio interview. “Nothing derails us from focusing on that. That’s basically where a lot of our time and attention is focused on right now.”