Trump Wanted Mueller Fired?
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Russiagate is a scam. Special counsel Mueller never should have been appointed – his mission a witch-hunt, not a legitimate investigation.
His conflicts of interest should have disqualified him. He’s close to fired FBI director Comey. He sought reappointment as agency head, serving in the post for 10 years under Bush/Cheney and Obama.
Reportedly he interviewed for the job the day before being appointed special counsel.
The NYT broke the story about Trump allegedly wanting Mueller fired last June – appointed special counsel on May 17, 2017 by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
His witch-hunt investigation involves probing “any links and/or coordination between Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
Not a shred of evidence suggests just cause for his investigation. After eight months on the job, he found nothing. Nor have House and Senate committees after over a year of fruitless work.
According to the Times, “(a)fter receiving the president’s order to fire Mr. Mueller, the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, refused to ask the Justice Department to dismiss the special counsel, saying he would quit instead,” according to unnamed sources.
Mueller learned about Trump’s intention before he backed down, the Times added. Reportedly he cited three Mueller conflicts of interest as justification for sacking him:
- a dispute over fees at Trump’s National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. involving Mueller;
- his work for the law firm that earlier represented his son-in-law Jared Kushner; and
- as explained above, he interviewed for FBI director after Trump fired Comey the day before his appointment as special counsel.
Mueller was appointed under 28 CFR 600.7. It state “(t)he Special Counsel may be disciplined or removed from office only by the personal action of the Attorney General.”
“The Attorney General may remove a Special Counsel for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause, including violation of Departmental policies.”
Mueller’s conflicts of interest make him a potential witness in his own investigation – alone what should have disqualified him for the special counsel job. It warrants his dismissal – though sacking him would be politically disastrous.
It would give Trump opponents just cause for impeachment on obstruction of justice charges – despite the illegitimacy of Mueller’s witch-hunt investigation.
Appearances are everything in Washington. Dark forces want Trump ousted. So far, there’s no justification for removing him.
Sacking Mueller in the middle of his investigation could create one, undemocratic Dems and perhaps some Republicans jumping on the chance to call for his impeachment and removal from office.
Surely this was explained to Trump. He backed off to save his presidency, not because White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II threatened to quit – a minor issue compared to the main one.
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