Trump ordered Mueller’s firing last year but was stopped by WH counsel: report

by Brandon Carter and John Bowden - 01/25/18 8:22 PM ET

President Trump attempted to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last summer but was stopped after White House counsel Don McGahn threatened to resign, according to a new report.

The New York Times reports Trump ordered Mueller to be fired in June, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

Trump reportedly said Mueller had conflicts of interest in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, including a dispute over fees at Trump’s National Golf Club in Virginia and Mueller’s previous employment at a law firm that represent Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to the Times.

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However, McGahn reportedly refused the president’s order and threatened to quit, believing that Trump’s order would further stir speculation that the president was obstructing justice in the Russia investigation.

Another option considered by the president involved removing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department’s second-highest official, and appointing Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand to oversee Mueller’s team of prosecutors. This option also never materialized.

According to the Times, Trump’s lawyer Ty Cobb and others in the White House have for months attempted to calm Trump on matters involving Mueller by insisting the investigation is almost over.

Cobb, who is handling the White House’s response to the Mueller probe, declined to comment to the Times.

“We decline to comment out of respect for the Office of the Special Counsel and its process,” Cobb said.

Mueller recently found out about Trump’s attempt to have him fired, according to the Times, as his team has begun interviewing top current and former Trump officials.

The Times’s bombshell report comes just a day after Trump said he would be willing to interview with Mueller.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he is “looking forward” to the opportunity to sit down with Mueller, insisting that he has done nothing wrong.

“There’s been no collusion whatsoever. There’s no obstruction whatsoever, and I’m looking forward to it,” Trump said.

The president also acknowledged at the time that whether he speaks to investigators would depend on the advice of his lawyers.

“You know, again, it’s … subject to my lawyers and all of that — but I would love to do it,” he said.

Democratic lawmakers seized on the report Thursday night that Trump attempted to fire Mueller, warning against any attempts to obstruct justice.

“I’ve said it before, and I am saying it again: firing the Special Counsel is a red line that the President cannot cross,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement responding to the Times report.

“Any attempt to remove the Special Counsel, pardon key witnesses, or otherwise interfere in the investigation, would be a gross abuse of power, and all members of Congress, from both parties, have a responsibility to our Constitution and to our country to make that clear immediately,” he said.

Updated: 9:26 p.m.