Rubio backs Mueller, wants probe to continue

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) backed special counsel Robert Mueller in an interview published Friday, saying that he believes the prosecutor will carry out his investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign “in a fair and balanced way.” 

“From his reputation and everything I know about him, I remain convinced that when this is all said and done, Mueller is going to only pursue things that are true and he will do it in a fair and balanced way,” Rubio said of Mueller in a News-Press interview. 

The senator’s comments come one day after President Trump expressed confidence that Mueller would carry out the federal probe without bias despite recent attacks on Mueller’s integrity from Republican lawmakers. 

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“I think the best thing that can happen for the president, for the country and for everyone is that he be allowed to complete his investigation as thoroughly and as completely as possible and that we allow the facts from the investigation to lead where they may,” Rubio continued.

Rubio, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee that is leading its own probe into possible ties to Russia within Trump’s campaign team, has previously said that Trump firing Mueller would be a “mistake” and that the president should allow the special counsel to conclude his investigation despite the president’s belief that the search for collusion is a “witch hunt.”

Trump allies ramped up demands for the probes to be shut down after Congress received a report that a top FBI counterintelligence agent who was fired from Mueller’s team had sent anti-Trump texts between August 2015 and December 2016.

The House Intelligence Committee is now seeking answers into possible bias on Mueller’s team, while Republicans on the conservative House Freedom Caucus have publicly demanded that Mueller recuse himself from the investigation over his friendship with former FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired.

The White House has in the past raised concerns over the integrity of the probe but has not said Mueller should resign or suggested that the president would fire him.