By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Republicans lawmakers were divided Sunday over passing legislation that would protect the special counsel investigating the Russia scandal, but Sen. Lindsey Graham warned that Donald Trump’s presidency would be over if he fired Robert Mueller.
“It’s pretty clear to me that everybody in the White House knows it would be the end of President Trump’s presidency if he fired Mr. Mueller,” Graham said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Graham, who authored a long-stalled bill to prevent the president from firing Mueller, was among at least two prominent Republicans who showed support Sunday for legislation to protect Mueller, who was appointed in May to investigate whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to undermine the 2016 presidential election.
Democrats and some Republicans renewed calls for the legislation after the New York Times and several news outlets reported last week that Trump had tried to fire Mueller until the White House counsel threatened to resign if the president if the president moved forward.
Many Republicans are not supportive of the measure, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who said Sunday that a bill is unnecessary.
“I don’t think there’s a need for legislation right now to protect Mueller,” McCarthy said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet The Press.”
“Right now there is not an issue,” McCarthy added. “So why create one when there isn’t a place for it?”
Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, who didn’t see a need for legislation in December, has changed her mind.
“It would certainly not hurt to put that extra safeguard in place, given the latest stories,” Collins said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
