Trump’s Public Warning To Mueller Triggers Controversy
President Donald Trump’s growing discomfort over the Justice Department’s Russia election probe was out in the open during his recent interview with the New York Times, when he warned Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is heading the investigation, against expanding the probe into his family’s finances.
Trump told the Times that Mueller would cross a red line if the investigation expanded beyond ties with Russia. The report published by the Times on Wednesday said the president left open the possibility of ordering the Justice Department to fire Mueller.
Read: Donald Trump Thought Robert Mueller Was Part Of ‘Witch Hunt’ Against Him, Report Says
A day after the public warning, a report Thursday by the Washington Post indicated the president’s lawyers may be looking into possibilities of blocking the special counsel’s probe. “Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe,” the Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The president’s lawyers have also been discussing the pardoning powers among themselves, according to the report that further said Trump’s legal team declined to comment on the matter.
However, the special counsel is already investigating a broad range of business transactions involving Trump and his associates, according to a Bloomberg article that also cited anonymous sources. The president’s involvement in a controversial SoHo development in New York with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Russian purchases of apartments in Trump’s buildings are under the scanner, as per the report published Thursday.
Trump’s remarks on Mueller were carried by the Times in the same article where he said he would have never appointed Jeff Sessions as the attorney general if he knew Sessions would eventually recuse himself from the probe. Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, when asked in one of the press briefings about whether the president was mulling over firing Mueller, said: “While the President has the right to, he has no intention to do so.”
However, Trump’s warning to Mueller and reports of his attempt to block the probe have sparked sharp reactions from all quarters. Referring to Trump’s interview to the Times, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) told CNN on Thursday: “The president has no power to delimit or set the contours of a special prosecutor’s investigation wherever he leads.”
Another Democratic leader Sen. Mark. R Warner (D-Virginia) issued a statement over reports of Trump considering issuing pardons. He called the possibility of issuing pardons “disturbing.”
Former Manhattan Attorney Preet Bharara, who was recently fired by Trump, also reacted to the speculations about Mueller’s firing. He reflected on the possible consequences of firing Mueller in a series of sarcastic tweets.
While talking to Fox News, Political commentator Charles Krauthammer said special prosecutor was “politically unfirable." Meanwhile, former Attorney General Eric Holder referred to the speculations saying Trump could not constrain the probe.
Meanwhile, a flurry of reactions also poured in on Twitter from other social media users.
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