Trump is considering firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller, friend says

Trump friend Christopher Ruddy says Trump considering firing Robert Mueller
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube PBS NewsHour)

President Trump might order the Justice Department to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is heading an investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election and any ties to the Trump campaign, longtime Trump friend Christopher Ruddy told PBS NewsHour on Monday. Other Trump allies, like Newt Gingrich, have switched from praising Mueller's integrity and honesty to questioning whether he can be impartial.

Ruddy, chief executive of the conservative Newsmax Media and a member of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, said that Trump understood from last week's bombshell testimony from former FBI Director James Comey that Trump wasn't personally alleged to have committed any crime. That makes Mueller's investigation "highly unusual" and "politically driven," he argued.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that while Ruddy was at the White House on Monday, he had not met with Trump there and doesn't speak for the White House. "Chris Ruddy speaks for himself," Spicer said. "With respect to this subject, only the president or his attorneys are authorized to comment." Ruddy was likely referring to lawyer Jay Sekulow's comments on ABC News Sunday that he wouldn't speculate on Trump firing Mueller but he also "can't imagine the issue is going to arise."

Ruddy confirmed to The Washington Post that he believes Trump is considering firing Mueller, and a senior White House official told The New York Times that Trump had interviewed Mueller for FBI director the day before Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had chosen him as special counsel. Trump has the authority to order Rosenstein to lift Justice Department rules protecting Mueller's independence and then fire him, though doing so would incur a political cost.

Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.