Following the New York Times report that President Donald Trump tried to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller last June, Democrats are stepping up their campaign for legal protection to ensure smooth completion of Mueller’s probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
While Trump himself dismissed the report as “fake news, typical New York Times fake stories”, several Democratic Senators are demanding that Bills already introduced for the protection of the Special Counsel should be taken up speedily and voted upon.
Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic Senator and former Attorney General of Connecticut, is among those leading the push for speedy Senate action on the bills at least one which is bipartisan, sponsored by Democrat Cory Booker and Republican Lindsey Graham.
The Bill, pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee, provides that a judge must approve any request coming from the Justice Department to fire Mueller or any other special counsel.
“Stunning, deeply scary Trump move to fire Mueller raises need for Special Counsel protection bill immediately. Judiciary Committee must approve and Congress must pass,” Blumenthal tweeted following the NYT report that Trump backed off after his White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive to dismiss Mueller.
“Our bill allows judicial review of any decision to terminate a special counsel to make sure it’s done for the reasons cited in the regulation rather than political motivation. I think this will serve the country well,” Senator Graham said.