Aides fear Trump will fire special counsel at a later date
Special counsel Robert Mueller's job is safe, the White House told reporters on Tuesday, but aides to the president are privately worried that Donald Trump will could fire the Russia investigator later.
Sources close to the president told the New York Times that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House Counsel Don McGhan and First Lady Melania Trump begged the president not to sack Mueller.
Priebus was especially alarmed, a source told the publication. The first lady told the president she believed that Mueller's probe would lead to his exoneration and he should leave the prosecutor in place.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's job is safe, the White House told reporters on Tuesday, but aides to the president are privately worried that Donald Trump will could fire the Russia investigator later
Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House Counsel Don McGhan and First Lady Melania Trump reportedly begged the president not to sack Mueller
Priebus was especially alarmed. The first lady told the president she believed that Mueller's probe would lead to his exoneration and he should leave the prosecutor in place
The president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, thought Trump should get rid of Mueller, but he has been less bullish in recent weeks.
The White House maintains that Trump can get rid of the special prosecutor, although he sees no reason to do it currently.
As such, Democratic lawmakers have renewed their calls for the creation of an independent, 9/11-style commission.
A rumor that Trump had considered firing the DOJ-appointed prosecutor was making its way around Washington this week and was not stopped by the White House's claim Tuesday evening that it was not an option the president was entertaining.
A Trump lawyer had left the door open to it on Sunday and conservatives ran with it.
Chris Ruddy, a media proprietor and friend of the president, said Monday that he had sources in the White House telling him that Trump was 'weighing' it. The claim set off a stampede.
Politics was put on hold on Wednesday as Washington recovered from a Virginia shooting that nearly claimed the lives of two Capitol Police officers, a Member of Congress, a congressional staffer and a lobbyist.
A day before, the Russia investigation was almost all that legislators were talking about as they grilled two Department of Justice officials like they were in legal depositions.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressed support for Mueller, the former FBI director who now leads a broad probe of claims that people linked to President Donald Trump colluded with Russian interests during the 2016 election season, at his hearing.
Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, said during a morning session that the Department of Justice retains the authority to fire Mueller and it can only do so for 'misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause.'
Democrats remain concerned that Trump would direct DOJ to get rid of Mueller, anyway, and they pelted Sessions with questions about it at an Intelligence Committee panel later.
The president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner,right, thought Trump should get rid of Mueller, but the idea was vetoed by the first lady and the president's chief of staff. Kushner is pictured at the White House today
Trump refused to say what he might do on multiple occasions when reporters asked him if he was planning to fire Mueller at events on Tuesday.
Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders finally told reporters late Tuesday evening, 'While the President has the right to, he has no intention to do so.'
Noted Trump surrogate Newt Gingrich, a former Speaker of the House, reversed himself this week and began attacking Mueller as a vicious partisan whose hiring of Democratic loyalists as deputies has cast his impartiality into doubt.
But during a Tuesday afternoon hearing, Sessions suggested to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Mueller could be trusted to carry out a fair investigation.
'I have known Mr. Mueller over the years. He served 12 years as a FBI director. I knew him before that, and I have confidence in Mr. Mueller,' the attorney general said.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday that he has 'confidence' in Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller's ability to lead a probe into Russian election interference
Mueller, a former FBI director, has broad authority that could affect the future of Donald Trump's presidency, and makes some in the White House nervous
Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy (left), a longtime Trump friend, said Monday night that the president was considering whether to fire Mueller – a claim the White House quickly bashed
Gingrich said on Twitter that 'Republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair. Time to rethink.'
He told ABC's 'Good Morning America' on Tuesday that Mueller 'did not hire a single Republican in the first wave' of staffing for his investigation.
'These are bad people,' he said. 'These are people who are going to be after Trump.'
Gingrich also said Trump had phoned him Monday night, and left him with the impression that Mueller's job isn't on the line.
Sessions told his former Senate colleagues that he didn't know one way or the other.
'Do you believe the president has confidence in Mr. Mueller?' Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner asked him.
'I have no idea,' Sessions replied. 'I've not talked to him about it.'
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Politico on Monday night that firing Mueller 'would be a disaster.'
'There's no reason to fire Mueller. What's he done to be fired?' he asked.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified to a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday that only he has the authority to fire Mueller, since AG Sessions has recused himself from the entirety of the Russia probe
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich insists Mueller is hiring 'bad people' – Democrats who are out to get Trump
On 'CBS This Morning' Gingrich carped that one of the Democratic attorneys Mueller has hired 'worked for the Clinton Foundation.'
'He apparently couldn't find a single pro-Trump attorney to hire and I just think that that’s a rigged game. I think that it's a mistake to pretend that this is going to be some neutral investigation.'
Rosenstein confirmed at his hearing that only he could dismiss Mueller, and even then only for a documented cause.
Sessions, who outranks Rosenstein, has recused himself formally from overseeing any part of the Russia investigation.