WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group of four senators is moving to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s job as President Donald Trump publicly muses about firing him.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware and Cory Booker of New Jersey plan to introduce legislation Wednesday that would give any special counsel a 10-day window in which he or she could seek expedited judicial review of a firing, according to two people familiar with the legislation. They were not authorized to discuss the bill ahead of its release and requested anonymity.
The legislation, which combines two bipartisan bills introduced last summer, comes as Trump has fumed about a Monday FBI raid of the office of his personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Trump has privately pondered firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and publicly criticized Mueller and his probe into Russian interference. Trump has repeatedly called the investigation a “witch hunt” and on Monday said it was “an attack on our country.”
After introducing similar bills in August, both Tillis and Graham had been quiet for months on whether they were still needed, saying they didn’t think Trump would move to fire Mueller. But in the hours after Trump’s strong words, lawmakers and staff moved to push out a new, combined bill.
Under the legislation, the expedited review would determine whether the special counsel was fired for good cause. The bill would also ensure that any staff, documents and other investigation materials were preserved as the matter was pending.
It’s unclear if it could ever become law. Such legislation is unlikely to move through the House, and many Republicans in the Senate still expressed confidence Tuesday that Trump would not fire the special counsel.
“I don’t think he’s going to be removed,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “I think he’ll be allowed to finish his job.”
Still, senators have publicly and privately let the White House know that firing Mueller would be a mistake, said the No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
“There would be serious repercussions,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. “I’ve shared with the president what a massive mistake it would be for him to do this. I’ve done that in person.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday on Fox Business News: “It would be suicide for the president to want to talk about firing Mueller. The less the president said on this whole thing, the better off he would be, the stronger his presidency would be.”
Democratic leaders urged Congress to act to ensure Mueller can finish his job.
“Stand up and say what the president is doing is wrong,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Make it clear that firing Mueller or interfering in his investigation crosses a red line.”
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