President Trump thinks he has the ability to fire special counsel Robert Mueller

By Denis Slattery

New York Daily News

President Donald Trump believes he has the power to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, White House officials said Tuesday.

“He certainly believes that he has the power to do so,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters during her daily briefing.

Trump believes that Mueller’s probe has “gone too far” after federal agents raided the offices of the president’s personal attorney Michael Cohen on Monday.

Acting with a search warrant, the raid was carried out at least in part based on a referral from Mueller’s team to a federal prosecutor in New York.

Sanders indicated that Trump has been advised that he has the authority to end Mueller’s probe.

“I know a number of individuals in the legal community, and including at the Department of Justice, said he has the power to do so,” Huckabee Sanders said.

Under Justice Department regulations, only Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation, can fire Mueller.

According to Justice Department regulations, special counsel can only be removed “for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause, including violation of Departmental policies.”

Rosenstein has said publicly that he has seen no reason to fire Mueller.

The president reportedly ordered Mueller fired last summer, only to be talked out of it by White House counsel Don McGahn.

An agitated Trump unleashed a targeted diatribe Monday after the raid of Cohen’s office, taking aim at Mueller’s investigation.

“Well, I think it’s a disgrace what’s going on. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Many people have said you should fire him. Again, they found nothing. And in finding nothing, that’s a big statement.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he’s seen no clear indication that Congress needs to step in and pass legislation that would prevent the firing of Mueller. McConnell said most lawmakers in Congress believe that Mueller should be allowed to finish his investigation.

He added that he believes Mueller’s job is safe.

“I think he will be allowed to finish the job. He should be allowed to finish the job he was assigned,” he said.