U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday that it would be “suicide” for President Donald Trump to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
In comments on Fox Business and CNN this morning, Grassley vouched for Mueller, calling him a person of stature, and said Trump should trust him too.
“I have confidence in Mueller. The president ought to have confidence in Mueller,” Grassley told Fox Business. “To answer your question, it would be suicide for the president to want to talk about firing Mueller. The less the president said on this whole thing, the better off he would be. The stronger his presidency would be.”
Grassley’s comments come in the aftermath of Trump’s complaints about the FBI raid Monday on the office and other property of Michael Cohen, his longtime lawyer.
The president took to Twitter this morning, saying “Attorney-client privilege is dead,” later, adding “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!”
As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley is an influential voice on the investigation.
Also Tuesday, Grassley said he believes Mueller has hit a “dead end” as far as potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
Democrats in Congress have called for legislation that would prevent the president from firing Mueller, but Republicans have not been willing to go along.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, also was asked Monday night on CNN about the potential of the president firing Mueller. She said, “the president has the ability to do that, but I don’t see him doing that. I think we have come too far in the Russia investigation.”
Ernst said the matter should be investigated fully and findings presented to Congress.