What if Trump did try to fire Mueller? Why does it matter?
WASHINGTON (AP) â  President Donald Trump  pushed back against reports that  he  ordered White House lawyer Don McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last June.
âFake news  folks. Fake news. Typical New York Times fake stories â  Trump  retorted dismissively when asked about it by reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos  Switzerland.
The reports  first by the Times and then others  said  Trump  backed off on  his  attempt to fire the man who is investigating  him    his  election campaignâs Russian contacts and  his  firings of FBI Director James Comey and national security adviser Michael Flynn â but only after lawyer McGahn refused to relay  his  directive to the Justice Department and threatened to quit if  Trump  pressed the issue.
After the news came out Thursday night  Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia quickly accused  Trump  of crossing âa red lineâ that should be met forcibly by lawmakers to protect the Constitution. Warner is the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee. But Republicans were quick to dismiss the report  pointing out that Mueller had not actually been fired.
Some legal experts noted that presidents  like anyone else  can say things they donât mean when angry. At the same time  others saw the alleged  Trump  order as part of a pattern of obstruction that could be pressed by Mueller  disrupting or even dooming Trumpâs presidency.
That said  this latest revelation isnât the only example of presidential action that could be seen as an attempt to interfere with an investigation of  Trump  and  his  campaign. Another is the firing Comey as FBI director last May. Mueller was appointed special counsel by Rod Rosenstein  the deputy attorney general  after Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped aside because of his own close involvement with the  Trump  campaign.
Or it could be part of an obstruction case against  Trump  or others.
Meanwhile  despite the sensational nature of the Times report  there is likely little that Mueller doesnât already know about events in the White House. More than 20 White House employees have given interviews to the special counselâs team investigating possible obstruction and  Trump  campaign ties to Russian election interference.
 John Dowd  one of Trumpâs attorneys   said the White House  in what  he  called an âunprecedentedâ display of cooperation with Muellerâs investigation  has turned over more than 20 000 pages of records. The presidentâs 2016 campaign has turned over more than 1.4 million pages.
 An additional 28 people affiliated with the Trump campaign  have been interviewed by either the special counsel or congressional committees probing Russian election meddling. Dowd did not name  the people  nor provide a breakdown of how many were interviewed only by Muellerâs team.
 Trumpâs  national approval numbers are low  but  his  conservative base has kept up its solid support through all the criticism  he  has come under in  his  first year as president. Why would this be any different?
In Congress  Democrats have been quick to exploit the report. Warner called Trumpâs actions âa gross abuse of power.â However  Republicans noted that the purported order came long ago and before  Trump  surrounded  himself  with new lawyers. Since then   his  public demeanor toward Mueller has changed.
 Trump  has softened  his  public criticism of Mueller  White House officials say over and over that  he  has nothing to hide  and  his  lawyers have signaled they are cooperating  too.
Muellerâs investigators hope to interview  Trump  soon.
âIâm looking forward to it  actually â  Trump  said when asked by reporters. As for timing   he  said  âI guess theyâre talking about two or three weeks  but Iâd love to do it.â
 His  lawyers walked that back a bit. No interview has been agreed to  all sides agreed.
WASHINGTON (AP) â   [TGT] pushed back against reports that   [TGT]   ordered White House lawyer Don McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last June.
âFake news  folks. Fake news. Typical New York Times fake stories â   [TGT] retorted dismissively when asked about it by reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos  Switzerland.
The reports  first by the Times and then others  said   [TGT]   backed off on   [TGT]   attempt to fire the man who is investigating   [TGT]      [TGT]   election campaignâs Russian contacts and   [TGT]   firings of FBI Director James Comey and national security adviser Michael Flynn â but only after lawyer McGahn refused to relay  his  directive to the Justice Department and threatened to quit if   [TGT]   pressed the issue.
After the news came out Thursday night  Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia quickly accused   [TGT]   of crossing âa red lineâ that should be met forcibly by lawmakers to protect the Constitution. Warner is the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee. But Republicans were quick to dismiss the report  pointing out that Mueller had not actually been fired.
Some legal experts noted that presidents  like anyone else  can say things they donât mean when angry. At the same time  others saw  [TGT] order as part of a pattern of obstruction that could be pressed by Mueller  disrupting or even dooming Trumpâs presidency.
That said  this latest revelation isnât the only example of presidential action that could be seen as an attempt to interfere with an investigation of  Trump  and  his  campaign. Another is the firing Comey as FBI director last May. Mueller was appointed special counsel by Rod Rosenstein  the deputy attorney general  after Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped aside because of his own close involvement with  [TGT] .
Or it could be part of an obstruction case against  Trump  or others.
Meanwhile  despite the sensational nature of the Times report  there is likely little that Mueller doesnât already know about events in the White House. More than 20 White House employees have given interviews to the special counselâs team investigating possible obstruction and   [TGT] campaign ties to Russian election interference.
  [TGT] said the White House  in what   [TGT]   called an âunprecedentedâ display of cooperation with Muellerâs investigation  has turned over more than 20 000 pages of records.  [TGT]  has turned over more than 1.4 million pages.
  [TGT] have been interviewed by either the special counsel or congressional committees probing Russian election meddling.  [TGT]  did not name   [TGT] nor provide a breakdown of how many were interviewed only by Muellerâs team.
 Trumpâs  national approval numbers are low  but  his  conservative base has kept up its solid support through all the criticism  he  has come under in  his  first year as president. Why would this be any different?
In Congress  Democrats have been quick to exploit the report. Warner called Trumpâs actions âa gross abuse of power.â However  Republicans noted that the purported order came long ago and before   [TGT] surrounded  himself  with new lawyers. Since then   his  public demeanor toward Mueller has changed.
  [TGT] has softened   [TGT]   public criticism of Mueller  White House officials say over and over that   [TGT]   has nothing to hide  and   [TGT]   lawyers have signaled they are cooperating  too.
Muellerâs investigators hope to interview   [TGT] soon.
âIâm looking forward to it  actually â   [TGT] said when asked by reporters. As for timing    [TGT]   said  âI guess theyâre talking about two or three weeks  but Iâd love to do it.â
  [TGT]   lawyers walked that back a bit. No interview has been agreed to  all sides agreed.