A bipartisan group of legislators plans to introduce a bill on Wednesday that would protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller against any attempt by the Trump administration to oust him.
The Special Counsel Independence & Integrity Act combines a bipartisan bill introduced by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE) last August and similar bill introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) that same month, both of which ensured that any attempt to remove the special counsel from his post would be reviewed by a three-judge panel to determine whether there was just cause to do so. Although the bills shared many of the same provisions, they differed in one key aspect: the Tillis-Coons bill gave the special counsel a 14-day window after his or her dismissal to challenge the removal before the panel of judges, while the Graham-Booker bill required that the decision be reviewed by the three-judge panel before any action was taken.
The new legislation is apparently a compromise between the two bills, delaying any decision to oust the special counsel and providing a 10-day window in which to the special counsel may appeal the decision to the three-judge panel, according to the Associated Press. As NBC News’ Marianna Sotomayor reported on Wednesday, it also “preserves” any documents or materials related to the special counsel’s investigation during that time.
If the three-judge panel determines that the dismissal was not carried out for legitimate reasons, the removal will be tossed.
NEW: Sens. Tillis & Coons have merged their special counsel protections bill with Sens. Graham & Booker’s proposal to make “one unified, bipartisan bill.” Here’s what the Special Counsel Independence & Integrity Act does: pic.twitter.com/nZEebeoMeX
— Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaNBCNews) April 11, 2018
The expected bipartisan announcement comes two days after President Trump floated the possibility of firing Mueller, who is currently investigating allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 election, as well as possible obstruction of justice committed by the president himself. On Monday, the same day that FBI agents raided the home, office, and hotel room of longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in search of documents unrelated to the Russia investigation — reportedly on Mueller’s referral — Trump sounded off on the special counsel, saying the investigation was a “witchhunt.”
“Why don’t I just fire Mueller? Well, I think it’s a disgrace what’s going on. We’ll see what happens,” he said, responding to reporter questions. “But I think it’s a really sad situation when you look at what happened, and many people have said ‘you should fire him.'”
He added, “I have this witch hunt constantly going on for 12 months now. It’s frankly a real disgrace. It’s an attack on our country in a true sense.”
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders echoed Trump’s comments. “We’ve been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision,” she said.
Those statements prompted a strong response on Capitol Hill.
“I have confidence in Mueller, the president ought to have confidence in Mueller, and I think to answer your question, it would be suicide for the president to…talk about firing Mueller,” Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said in an interview on Fox Business.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) agreed. “If the president is thinking of [firing] Special Counsel Mueller or otherwise interfer[ing] with the chain of command in the Russia probe, we have one simple message for him: don’t even think about it,” he said, speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday. “We should not abide the president’s attempted assault on the rule of law in America. The eyes of history are upon us.”
Trump has considered firing Mueller in the past. In June last year, the president reportedly ordered the special counsel’s dismissal after claiming that Mueller had conflicts of interest — including a conflict over fees at Trump National Golf Club, and the fact that Mueller had previously represented Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner — that prevented him from carrying out an unbiased investigation, sources with knowledge of the situation told The New York Times. Trump later backed down after White House counsel Don McGahn threatened to quit unless Trump dropped the order.
Trump later claimed the story was “fake news,” during an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The president has also weighed the idea of targeting those already in a position to fire Mueller, specifically Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in May 2017, after Sessions, a former Trump campaign surrogate, recused himself from the investigation.
“The attorney general made a terrible mistake when he did this and when he recused himself,” Trump told reporters on Monday, speaking to Sessions’ decision in March 2017. “Or he should have certainly let us know if he was going to recuse himself and we would have used a — put a different attorney general in. So he made what I consider to be a very terrible mistake for the country, but you’ll figure that out.”
Over the last year, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have begun weighing their options and considering legislation, like the bipartisan Special Counsel Independence & Integrity Act, that would prevent Trump from doing the unthinkable. While many of those bipartisan efforts have been dangled in the past, their sense of urgency has increased in recent weeks, as Mueller’s investigation ramps up.
So far, the special counsel has indicted several key Trump advisers and campaign staffers on charges of lying to the FBI about their communications and relationships with Russian officials. Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and associate Rick Gates have also been charged on several other counts, including money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents for their work with pro-Russian Ukrainian figures. Monday’s Cohen raid, though not directly related to Mueller’s investigation, only served to push the president over the edge.
….doing things that nobody thought possible, despite the never ending and corrupt Russia Investigation, which takes tremendous time and focus. No Collusion or Obstruction (other than I fight back), so now they do the Unthinkable, and RAID a lawyers office for information! BAD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018
Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama. Mueller is most conflicted of all (except Rosenstein who signed FISA & Comey letter). No Collusion, so they go crazy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018
In a series of tweets on Wednesday morning, Trump inadvertently appeared to give legitimacy to Mueller’s investigation while defending his longtime lawyer, admitting that he had fought
“I (we) are doing things that nobody thought possible, despite the never ending and corrupt Russia Investigation, which takes tremendous time and focus,” he tweeted. “No Collusion or Obstruction (other than I fight back), so now they do the Unthinkable, and RAID a lawyers office for information! BAD!”
In a follow-up tweet, he added, “Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama. Mueller is most conflicted of all (except Rosenstein who signed FISA & Comey letter). No Collusion, so they go crazy!”
As ThinkProgress previously noted, “fighting back” against a federal investigation effectively translates to impeding that investigation. In other words, obstructing an obstruction of justice investigation.