Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, a potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said Wednesday he won’t vote for legislation required to keep the government open if it doesn’t include some sort of provision that protects special counsel Robert Mueller.
“I’m not voting for any legislation to keep the government open that does not include protecting Bob Mueller,” Swalwell told MSNBC Wednesday about the looming Dec. 7 deadline to keep federal agencies funded.
Swalwell said he’s unsure if his Democrat counterparts feel the same way, but wanted to lay down a marker about the special counsel’s probe into Russia meddling in the 2016 presidential election — and the Trump campaign’s potential involvement in it.
“I can’t speak for my colleagues, but the rule of law is too important and this president has just taken a torch to it, and we have to do everything we can to protect Mueller,” Swalwell said.
Trump has levied repeated criticism at the Mueller investigation, leading to Democratic calls to protect the investigator from being fired outright or undermined internally by acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker.
“President Trump and House Republicans’ recent efforts to ratchet up their campaign to undermine, interfere with and obstruct Mueller’s investigation warrant immediate action from Congress to protect the investigation into the Trump-Russia scandal,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in September.
Swalwell has publicly mused about running for president in 2020, saying recently he would “make a decision soon” .
