President Trump intensified his attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller by suggesting he lacks legitimacy because he was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
When Trump was asked about the constitutionality of appointing Matthew Whitaker acting attorney general without Senate confirmation, Trump, speaking to reporters on the South Lawn at the White House, pointed out that Mueller had not been confirmed by the Senate as special counsel.
“Mueller is doing a report, he hasn’t gone through the Senate process, so you’re saying Whitaker hasn’t? But Whitaker has. He was a really distinguished U.S. attorney in Iowa, and he was approved by everybody,” Trump said.
Mueller was confirmed as FBI director by the Senate with a 98-0 margin in 2001 and the law later changed to extend his 10-year term. In 2011, the Senate voted unanimously to extend Mueller’s tenure for an additional two years. Whitaker was confirmed by the Senate in 2004 as a federal prosecutor in Iowa.
Trump added: “Mueller – a big complaint people have – Mueller was not Senate confirmed. So he’s doing a report. He wasn’t Senate confirmed. Whitaker was Senate confirmed.”
“But Mueller was not Senate confirmed. Why didn’t they get him Senate confirmed? He should have been Senate confirmed, but because of all the conflicts they didn’t want to bring him before the Senate because he’s very conflicted, so because of those conflicts they didn’t want to bring him before the Senate,” Trump said.
Trump went on: “But don’t tell me about Whitaker. Don’t tell me about Whitaker because Mueller was not senate confirmed. And Whitaker was.”
There is no requirement for a special counsel be Senate confirmed. Mueller was appointed by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein in May 2017 after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Rosenstein no longer has direct oversight of Mueller following the appointment of Whitaker.
Whitaker has come under increased scrutiny because of his previous criticisms of Mueller’s investigation. As acting attorney general, Whitaker now takes the reins of oversight of Mueller — and is not expected to recuse himself from the inquiry. Whitaker, a Trump ally, has accused Mueller of “going too far” and also called his prosecutors a “lynch mob.”
