By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
President Trump, who continues to call the special counsel investigation a “witch hunt,” believes he has the authority to fire Robert Mueller, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday.
Sanders’ assertion, which has been disputed by legal experts, comes a day after the FBI’s raid on the president’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
When asked about the president’s power to fire Mueller, Sanders responded: “We’ve been advised the president certainly has the power to make that decision.”
But regulations covering the Justice Department’s appointment of a special counsel clearly indicate only the attorney general can dismiss Mueller for “good cause.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself because of lingering questions about his conversations with Russians during the Trump campaign, leaving the power over the special counsel to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general.
So how does Trump get around this? He likely would have to fire Rosenstein and replace him with someone willing to carry out Trumps orders – a move that echoes the SaturdayNight Massacre during the Watergate scandal.
According to the New York Times, Trump sought to fire Mueller in December following news reports about a new round of subpoenas from the special counsel’s office.
