Deputy Attorney General Says There Is No Good Cause To Fire Mueller From Russia Investigation

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On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended special counsel Robert Mueller and the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to manipulate the 2016 election.

Rosenstein faced a series of questions from Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee, who have recently amped up their efforts to discredit Mueller’s probe as biased by seizing on reports of two anti-Trump, pro-Hillary agents being involved in the Russia investigation. This is despite the fact that Mueller is a Republican and immediately fired the two biased agents as soon as he learned of text messages they exchanged in which they disparaged Trump.

Rosenstein, who is in charge of overseeing Mueller, said he saw no good cause to fire the special counsel.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler: “Have you seen good cause to fire Special Counsel Mueller?”

Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein: "No."

Welp. So much for that GOP scheme to save the Trump admin.pic.twitter.com/w1OwdGAt5u

— Adam Best (@adamcbest) December 13, 2017

When asked what he would do if he were ordered to fire Mueller, Rosenstein responded that he would follow regulations and would only terminate the special counsel if he found a good cause.

Rosenstein also stated that the political beliefs of members on the investigation team would not influence the way they conduct the probe. “We have employees with political opinions,” he said. “It is our responsibility to ensure those opinions do not influence our actions. I believe Mr. Mueller understands that. He is running that office appropriately.”

As the investigation into the Trump camp’s contact with Russians during the election heats up, it’s not surprising to hear more talk of firing Mueller from the president and his supporters.