Is Robert Mueller in danger of getting the boot? The special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections has been in the sights of allies of Donald Trump for a while. And on Friday, Fox News reported on a “fresh round of calls from conservative critics for his resignation” even before it was revealed Mueller’s investigation had sealed its first indictment.
For what it’s worth, I’m told there’s been no talk at the Justice Department of getting rid of Mueller. The burden of doing so would fall to the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in the first place back in May. But the power of firing Mueller would ultimately lie with President Trump. Could an embarrassing indictment—or worse—prompt Trump to dump Mueller? And if he did so, what sort of pushback would he get from Republicans in Congress?
Back in July, House speaker Paul Ryan dismissed concerns that Mueller was part of a witch hunt against Trump. “Remember, Bob Mueller is a Republican who was appointed by a Republican, who served in the Republican administration and crossed over, I mean, and stayed on until his term ended. But—I don't think many people are saying Bob Mueller is a person who is a biased partisan. He's really sort of anything but,” Ryan said. “The point is, we have an investigation in the House, an investigation in the Senate, and a special counsel who sort of depoliticizes this stuff and gets it out of the political sphere, and that is, I think, better, to get this off to the side, I think the facts will vindicate themselves and then let's just go do our job.”
I asked Ryan’s office if the Republican speaker still felt this way, given that other Republicans, including members of his conference, were calling on Mueller to resign. “The speaker has addressed this issue multiple times. I wouldn't have an update from those comments,” said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong.
But back to the case against Mueller. The argument that he is unfit to serve as special counsel is two-fold:
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05.18.2024