After a CNN report that special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into President Donald Trump and his associates’ financial ties to Russia, crossing what Trump himself called a red line, James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, warned Trump on Thursday night that firing…
But he said it would be « very dangerous » if this led to Trump firing or attempting to fire Mueller, warning that « I think this would create a real constitutional crisis. This would be Watergate in slow motion, which I also lived through. »
Clapper’s interview came as a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN that the special counsel has issued grand jury subpoenas related to the Donald Trump Jr. meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016, seeking both documents and testimony from people involved in the meeting.
Clapper said he was not surprised that Mueller was now using a grand jury and that it, and the increasing size of Mueller’s staff, both suggest « that there is there, there. »
Clapper also expressed outrage that transcripts of Trump’s phone calls with Mexico’s President and Australia’s Prime Minister were leaked. Clapper said, « It’s a terrible thing that these got leaked » and that « it is really bad and it just shouldn’t happen. »
