Report: Trump Vents About Wanting to Fire Mueller’s Boss, Rod Rosenstein
NOT THIS AGAIN
Sources cited by CNN claim the president’s advisers have had to explain the move would backfire.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters
President Trump has privately complained about wanting to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the man overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, CNN reports. Sources familiar with the situation quoted Trump as saying, “Let’s fire him,” and “Let’s get rid of him” in reference to Rosenstein, though his advisers are said to have convinced him it’d be a bad idea. The report comes as Mueller’s investigators have reportedly shifted their focus to possible obstruction of justice in the Russia probe, with Mueller reportedly seeking to interview Trump about his interactions with former FBI director James Comey and claims he’d asked Comey to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The New York Times also reported earlier this week that Trump wanted to have Mueller fired last June, though White House counsel Don McGahn is said to have blocked the move. Trump dismissed that report as “fake news.” White House counsel Ty Cobb has also denied the latest claims about Rosenstein, suggesting the report is part of an “onslaught of false stories.”
