Trump says he wonât fire Mueller as campaign to discredit Russia probe heats up
Trump Trump
President Trump on Sunday sought to douse speculation that  he  may fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III amid an intensifying campaign by  Trump  allies to attack the wide-ranging Russia investigation as improper and politically motivated.
Returning to the White House from Camp David   Trump  was asked Sunday whether  he  intended to fire Mueller. âNo  Iâm not â  he  told journalists  insisting that there was âno collusion whatsoeverâ between  his  campaign and Russia.
The presidentâs comments came a day after a lawyer representing Trumpâs transition team accused Mueller of wrongfully obtaining thousands of emails sent and received by  Trump  officials before the start of  his  administration â a legal and public relations maneuver seen as possibly laying the groundwork to oust the special counsel.
 Trump  criticized Mueller for gaining access to those emails  telling reporters the situation was ânot looking good.â
âItâs quite sad to see that â  Trump  said. âMy people were very upset about it.â
The outcry over Muellerâs investigation into Russiaâs 2016 election interference grew louder over the weekend among  Trump  loyalists and conservative media figures. Although  Trump  has publicly and privately criticized the Department of Justice and the FBI and voiced displeasure with  his  appointees there  the presidentâs advisers insisted  he  is not aiming  his  ire at Mueller.
As the special counsel has inched closer to  Trump  with a series of indictments and guilty pleas  including securing the cooperation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn  the presidentâs defenders have spotlighted examples of political bias among two senior FBI officials as proof of a compromised investigation.
FBI lawyer Lisa Page and counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok worked on the Russia investigation. Strzok was removed from Muellerâs team in July after text messages were discovered in which they discussed their dislike of  Trump  and support of Democrat Hillary Clinton; Page had left the team two weeks earlier for what officials said were unrelated reasons. Their text messages were released by the Justice Department last week and are still under review.
Some  Trump  surrogates have said the texts show that Muellerâs investigation is partisan.
âIt looks more and more and more like an attack on the presidency â former  Trump  campaign adviser Michael Caputo said Sunday. âI still donât believe Mueller is in for a silent coup  but I think people around him have shown that this thing is off the rails. . . . These texts and emails were a declaration of their membership in the resistance.â
The attacks have fed speculation about Muellerâs fate. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) told a California television station on Friday that âthe rumorâ on Capitol Hill was that  Trump  would fire Mueller at the end of this week  as Congress disperses for a holiday break.
Liberal activist groups have readied mass protests in the event that Mueller is fired.  The sprawling âTrump  Is Not Above the Lawâ coalition says it has more than 400 demonstrations ready to launch nationwide. Were Mueller to be fired in the morning  events would be held at 5 p.m. local time; if he were fired in the afternoon or evening  protests would kick off at noon the following day.
Trumpâs aides said the rumors are nonsense. Asked whether the  Trump  transition team lawyerâs complaint was setting the stage for firing Mueller  Marc Short  the White House legislative affairs director  replied  âNo!â
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday on CNNâs âState of the Unionâ that  Trump  did not mention firing the special counsel when they had dinner Saturday night. âI donât have any reason to think that the president is going to do that  but thatâs obviously up to him â he said.
Advisers who have spoken recently with  Trump  about the Russia investigation said the president was sharply critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions  as well as Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein  who oversees the Mueller operation â but did not broach the idea of firing Mueller.
Rather   Trump  appeared to be contemplating changes in the Justice Departmentâs leadership. In recent discussions  two advisers said   Trump  has called the attorney general âweak â and complained that Rosenstein has shown insufficient accountability on the special counselâs work. A senior official said  Trump  mocked Rosensteinâs recent testimony on Capitol Hill  saying  he  looked weak and unable to answer questions.  Trump  has ranted about Rosenstein as âa Democrat â one of these advisers said  and characterized  him  as a threat to  his  presidency.
President Trump on Sunday sought to douse speculation that  he  may fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III amid an intensifying campaign by  Trump  allies to attack the wide-ranging Russia investigation as improper and politically motivated.
Returning to the White House from Camp David   Trump  was asked Sunday whether  he  intended to fire Mueller. âNo  Iâm not â  he  told journalists  insisting that there was âno collusion whatsoeverâ between  his  campaign and Russia.
The presidentâs comments came a day after a lawyer representing Trumpâs transition team accused Mueller of wrongfully obtaining thousands of emails sent and received by  Trump  officials before the start of  his  administration â a legal and public relations maneuver seen as possibly laying the groundwork to oust the special counsel.
 Trump  criticized Mueller for gaining access to those emails  telling reporters the situation was ânot looking good.â
âItâs quite sad to see that â  Trump  said. âMy people were very upset about it.â
The outcry over Muellerâs investigation into Russiaâs 2016 election interference grew louder over the weekend among  Trump  loyalists and conservative media figures. Although  Trump  has publicly and privately criticized the Department of Justice and the FBI and voiced displeasure with  his  appointees there  the presidentâs advisers insisted  he  is not aiming  his  ire at Mueller.
As the special counsel has inched closer to  Trump  with a series of indictments and guilty pleas  including securing the cooperation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn  the presidentâs defenders have spotlighted examples of political bias among two senior FBI officials as proof of a compromised investigation.
FBI lawyer Lisa Page and counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok worked on the Russia investigation. Strzok was removed from Muellerâs team in July after text messages were discovered in which they discussed their dislike of   [TGT]   and support of Democrat Hillary Clinton; Page had left the team two weeks earlier for what officials said were unrelated reasons. Their text messages were released by the Justice Department last week and are still under review.
Some   [TGT]   surrogates have said the texts show that Muellerâs investigation is partisan.
âIt looks more and more and more like an attack on the presidency â former   [TGT] campaign adviser Michael Caputo said Sunday. âI still donât believe Mueller is in for a silent coup  but I think people around him have shown that this thing is off the rails. . . . These texts and emails were a declaration of their membership in the resistance.â
The attacks have fed speculation about Muellerâs fate. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) told a California television station on Friday that âthe rumorâ on Capitol Hill was that   [TGT]   would fire Mueller at the end of this week  as Congress disperses for a holiday break.
Liberal activist groups have readied mass protests in the event that Mueller is fired.  The sprawling âTrump  Is Not Above the Lawâ coalition says it has more than 400 demonstrations ready to launch nationwide. Were Mueller to be fired in the morning  events would be held at 5 p.m. local time; if he were fired in the afternoon or evening  protests would kick off at noon the following day.
Trumpâs aides said the rumors are nonsense. Asked whether the  Trump  transition team lawyerâs complaint was setting the stage for firing Mueller  Marc Short  the White House legislative affairs director  replied  âNo!â
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday on CNNâs âState of the Unionâ that  Trump  did not mention firing the special counsel when they had dinner Saturday night. âI donât have any reason to think that the president is going to do that  but thatâs obviously up to him â he said.
Advisers who have spoken recently with  Trump  about the Russia investigation said the president was sharply critical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions  as well as Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein  who oversees the Mueller operation â but did not broach the idea of firing Mueller.
Rather   Trump  appeared to be contemplating changes in the Justice Departmentâs leadership. In recent discussions  two advisers said   Trump  has called the attorney general âweak â and complained that Rosenstein has shown insufficient accountability on the special counselâs work. A senior official said  Trump  mocked Rosensteinâs recent testimony on Capitol Hill  saying  he  looked weak and unable to answer questions.  Trump  has ranted about Rosenstein as âa Democrat â one of these advisers said  and characterized  him  as a threat to  his  presidency.