Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he has not seen any reason to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating the Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
“No, I have not,” Rosenstein told Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., when asked during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday if he has has seen “any good cause” to fire Mueller.
“I am confident that he will have sufficient independence to conduct the investigation,” Rosenstein said.
He added of a federal regulation that says only he can fire Mueller, “You have my assurance that we are going to faithfully follow that regulation.”
Close allies of President Trump have suggested that Trump could and should fire Mueller, but other Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have said that would be a bad idea. When asked if he would fire Mueller if President Trump asked him to do so, Rosenstein said he would only go forward with it if it were lawful.
“I am not going to follow any orders unless I believe they are lawful,” Rosenstein said. “Mueller would only be fired for good cause. If there’s not good cause, it doesn’t matter to me what anybody says.”
One of Trump’s good friends has said that the president is considering firing Mueller.
“I think it is a consideration the president has had because Mueller is illegitimate as special counsel,” Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax Media, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day” Tuesday. “Chris, remember there is no evidence of wrongdoing, there’s no evidence of collusion, there’s no evidence of obstruction.”
Because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, the onus falls on Rosenstein to keep or fire Mueller.
But Democrats have already warned Trump not to fire him. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said if that happened, Congress would likely reappoint Mueller.
Republicans have started to complain about Mueller’s team, which includes three lawyers who have contributed mostly to Democratic campaigns.
