Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen wants Republicans to stop trying to “undermine” special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and wondered aloud about what in the probe scares the White House.
“I think Republicans should end their concerted effort to undermine the credibility of the Mueller investigation,” Van Hollen told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “You see a concerted effort out of the White House to undermine the investigation. I really hope our Republican colleagues will not join in subverting that process and trying to end this investigation.
“The question is, what are they afraid of? What is the White House afraid of?” he continued.
Van Hollen said it’s not a problem if some members on Mueller’s team appear to have a political bias because those members have already been removed from the investigation.
“Mueller has already taken actions with respect to those individuals. Beyond that, you will find that there are many contributions there were made by folks like the FBI director to President Trump or Republicans. And the reality is that people in these jobs have integrity, they’re under the leadership of Mueller, who is known for being a straight shooter. He’ll do a job. He’ll get to the facts. And I strongly believe people will have confidence in his judgment,” he said.
Mueller’s investigation has come under fire after Peter Strzok, a top FBI counterintelligence agent who was part of Mueller’s investigation, was removed from the team and demoted after it was revealed that he sent messages critical of Trump.
Strzok and Lisa Page, a lawyer who had also been assigned to the Mueller probe and has since been removed, were found to have exchanged anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton messages during the 2016 presidential campaign.
