Congressional Republicans on Sunday reiterated to President Trump on Sunday that he should leave special counsel Robert Mueller to do his job without the threat of political interference. Their intensifying warnings came after Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the Mueller investigation “should never have been started in that there was no collusion.” John Dowd, a lawyer for the president, told The Daily Beast that the probe should be shut down. “To suggest that Mueller should shut down and that all he is looking at is collusion—if you have an innocent client, Mr. Dowd, act like it,” Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Fox News Sunday. Gowdy said “it’s going to be a very, very long, bad 2018” for the president if he moves to fire Mueller. Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said Trump would be crossing a “massive red line,” while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said “that would be the beginning of the end of his presidency.” It remains to be seen whether Trump's and his lawyer’s renewed attacks on the Mueller probe will spur legislative action. Two bipartisan pieces of legislation aimed at shielding Mueller from political interference remain stalled on Capitol Hill.
—Andrew Desiderio
