«The only reason Mr. Mueller could ever be dismissed is for cause,» he said. «I see no cause when it comes to Mr. Mueller.»
Senator Lindsey Graham had a stark warning for President Donald Trump on Sunday: Fire special counsel Robert Mueller and your time in the White House might just come to a close.
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, the Republican lawmaker from South Carolina was asked about the potential firing of Mueller by host Jake Tapper. Graham did not go easy on his fellow member of the GOP.
«The only reason Mr. Mueller could ever be dismissed is for cause,» he said. «I see no cause when it comes to Mr. Mueller. He needs to be able to do his job independent of any political influence. I pledge to the American people as a Republican to make sure that Mr. Mueller can continue to do his job without any interference. I think he’s doing a good job.»
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Tapper then brought up tweets from Trump that seemed to suggest he was preparing to fire the special counsel. «Why does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans?» the president posted Sunday morning . «Another Dem recently added…does anyone think this is fair? And yet, there is NO COLLUSION!»
Asked if the tweets made him concerned for Mueller’s job safety, Graham said the president would fire the special counsel at his own peril.
«As I’ve said before, if he tried to do that it would be the beginning of the end of his presidency because we’re a rule of law nation,» he said on CNN.
Senator Lindsey Graham talks to reporters during a news conference at the U. S. Capitol November 1,2017 in Washington, D. C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Amid Attorney General Jeff Sessions firing former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Trump’s own lawyer called for Mueller to be fired this week. «I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier,» John Dowd said in a statement to NBC News .
McCabe, meanwhile, reportedly kept memos on his interactions with Trump and turned them over to Mueller.
