President’s Criticism of Mueller Draws Pushback From the GOP

On Sunday, for his examination of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, President Trump decided against the strategy of showing deference to the special counsel and criticized the approach of partisan investigation adopted by many Republicans in the past.

Despite the advice President Trump has received from his advisers and lawyers against direct speaking out against the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller, Mr. Trump has decided to attack him nevertheless, inciting much controversy and tension within the Republican party. He wrote on Twitter: “Why does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans?”.

Robert Mueller, a loyal Republican and former FBI director appointed under the George W. Bush administration, has been involved with the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Trump’s vocal attack against Mr. Mueller is a confirmation of his lawyers’ concern that such criticism might provoke antagonism in his prosecutors, leading to the discontent of many Republicans who consider it inappropriate to attack the special counsel and a corrupt attempt to stall the investigation.

Among the critics of this attack, Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona commented that “people see that as a massive red line that can’t be crossed.” Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina, also chimed in that Mr. Trump should “act like it” if he did nothing wrong. Paul D. Ryan, the House Speaker, too released a statement sending a similar message of warning Mr. Trump against further assaulting Mr. Mueller.

The White House has not yet released an official statement on whether President Trump will be firing Robert Mueller or not in the near future. However, Mr. Trump’s personal attack against Mr. Mueller on his social media account is backed by his personal lawyer, John Dowd, who on Saturday called the Justice Department and ordered the ending of special counsel investigation.

Mr. Trump’s fury, however, is not unexpected. He has been told by his advisers and lawyers that the investigation would come to an end repeatedly, yet Mr. Mueller has yet to wrap up his investigation. President Trump’s legislative director, Marc Short, commented to CBS that the White House “[has] cooperated in every single way, every single paper they’ve asked for, every single interview”. He expressed impatience and discontent towards the lack of conclusive results after pouring in millions of dollars into this investigation.

While Mr. Trump lacks the direct executive power to fire a special counsel, he can order his attorney general to do so. However, the situation is further complicated as Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, has long been in dispute with Mr. Trump and has recused himself from the inquiry with Russia in the past. Therefore, Mr. Trump would most likely need to depend on the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein to do this job for him.

Even with that route, the hope seems dim, as Mr. Rosenstein remarked last week about the lack of justification for firing Mr. Mueller. The person below Rosenstein, Rachel Brand, has decided to leave her position last month, wary of the repercussions regarding this investigation.

Mr. Trump has attempted last June to fire Mr. Mueller already yet was advised against by his White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II. His recent attack against him signaled that he has clearly grown weary of being respectful and patient towards the special counsel. Along with Mr. Mueller, Mr. Trump also attacked James B. Comey, the former FBI director as well as Andrew G. McCabe, his former deputy. Both of these targets have been loyal Republicans, and the GOP responded with rebukes and criticism against Trump taking it too far.

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