Over a period of three months, President Donald Trump has fired two major officials in his administration, Attorney General Preet Bharara in March and FBI Director James Comey in May. Even special counsel Robert Mueller, who leads the government investigation on the Russian intervention in the 2016 election, is at risk of being fired too.
Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s lawyers, said on Sunday at “This Week” on ABC News, that Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed the special counsel, have the power to remove Mueller from the investigation or even tamper with the case, The New York Daily News reported.
Mueller is supposed to be independent and free from political meddling by Trump or the administration. Federal rules, however, allow the special counsel to be stopped from any investigative or prosecutorial step, which should not be pursued if it is not proper or not warranted under established departmental practices.
A unitary president?
While reports after Comey’s testimony on Thursday said it divided the nation into pro-Comey and pro-Trump groups, Sekulow insisted that Trump is a unitary executive. If the billionaire will come to the point of needing to fire Mueller, he will seek the advice of his lawyers and other government officials, Sekulow said. Sekulow, however, added that he cannot imagine the issue of removing Mueller from the case will arise.
If Trump fires Mueller, Rosenstein is mandated to report the action to the two Judiciary Committees of both houses of Congress. The rules, however, have not been specific what are the grounds to remove the special counsel from the investigation. The New York Daily News noted that given Trump’s propensity to kick out an official who goes against him, the rules permit the president to fire Mueller too.
Son’s tongue slips
While Comey was testifying, Trump kept silent on advice of his lawyers, but adult sons Eric and Donald Jr. tweeted to defend their father. On Saturday, while being interviewed by Trump ally Judge Jeanine Pirro on Fox News, Donald Jr. seemed to contradict his dad’s version on Comey’s firing, Huffington Post reported.
He said there was no ambiguity when the president met Comey on Feb. 14 at the Oval Office and asked the FBI director to drop the investigation on Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser. “When he tells you to do something, guess what? There’s no ambiguity in it,” he said. Donald Jr., however, clarified it could not have been a direct request but more like the president said he hoped something will happen which is Comey’s job to do. The president, however, denied telling Comey to stop the investigation on Flynn.
If there are tapes of the conversation, it will confirm who is telling the truth. Sekulow said Trump will reveal next week if he had the conversation taped. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority leader, called on Trump on Sunday to give his testimony on the Russian investigation.
