Protect Mueller

Senators say they'll protect Mueller if Trump's Russia ire heats up

By ELANA SCHOR and DARREN SAMUELSOHN

Republican and Democratic senators said Tuesday they would remain vigilant to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired, even as President Donald Trump has slightly lowered the temperature about his discontent over the Russia probe.

Two bills introduced in August are designed to safeguard the independent prosecutor, whose investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election has roused Trump's public and private frustration. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) have proposed allowing a special counsel to contest any termination after the fact, while another bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) would require the Justice Department to seek judicial approval before any firing.

After a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on the constitutionality of the two proposals, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said he doesn't "know yet" whether he's prepared to support either bill and plans to gauge the "consensus" on his panel.

The urgency of movement on the two Mueller bills appears to have waned somewhat. Trump has reportedly fumed in recent days about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal from the Russia probe, which he has said led to Mueller's appointment, but discussions at the White House over potentially terminating the special counsel appear to have quieted.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal acknowledged in an interview that the threat that Trump would actually push for Mueller's firing has cooled a bit since August, when the president's public complaints and humiliation of Sessions led lawmakers to propose their competing bills. Trump had already fired FBI Director James Comey, who at the time was overseeing the Russia investigation.

"I think there's a sense the threats have abated somewhat more recently, but we're continuing to talk to each other about how we bring the bills together and speaking to our colleagues on how we can work together to make sure the special counsel is fully protected," the Connecticut Democrat told POLITICO.

Blumenthal, an original cosponsor of the Graham-Booker approach, also said he expected ideas from the two different bills to be folded into one — and held at the ready if Trump kicks up more dust.

"I think we will eventually combine our bills and they'll be ready to go if these threats continue or increase," Blumenthal said.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the panel's top Democrat, agreed that Mueller for the moment appears safe.

"I think it has abated now," she said. "That's not to say it couldn't come up again."

Graham said after Tuesday's hearing that he would be "fine" with leaving the Mueller bills in the Senate's back pocket in case Trump returns to any public or private threat to fire the special counsel.

"We’re letting people know that we’re watching," he said in an interview. "I don’t have any evidence that President Trump is going to do this. I don’t have any evidence that he’s done anything wrong. This is just to make sure and reinforce to everybody that we’re going to make sure Mueller can do his job."

Tillis said, however, that his "motivation goes far beyond what was going on in August" and urged the committee to come to a consensus on legislation protecting the special counsel.

"This is something that I think has enduring value and something we should continue to work on," he said in a brief interview.

Booker also called for quick movement on his bill in a Tuesday op-ed for CNN. And Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, one of Graham’s Democratic partners, said the recent tempering of Trump’s complaints about the Russia investigation shouldn’t be taken as a reason to stand down on the legislation.

“I think it would be a mistake to base that decision on present circumstances," Whitehouse said. "As the noose starts to close around the White House and around the Trump family, a very different set of behaviors could emerge. It’s under those kinds of pressures that the special counsel needs to be able to continue its work.” Whitehouse also acknowledged the two bills likely would be merged.

“It doesn’t make sense to have competing ones so we’ll have to either agree to support one or the other or work on a compromise version,” he told POLITICO.

Grassley signaled in his opening statement that Congress would remain vigilant in overseeing the Mueller probe, regardless of how quickly the bills advance.

"I hope that both those who view these bills as constitutional and those who express their doubts that they are constitutional can agree on one thing: There is a robust role for Congress in overseeing the executive branch, including all investigations conducted by Department of Justice-appointed special counsels," Grassley said.

But Feinstein also said she was still struggling to figure out what any final Mueller-protection legislation would say, pointing out the differing opinions that came during public testimony at Tuesday's hearing. Testimony from four law professors on the constitutionality of the Mueller measures ran the gamut, with some suggesting that the Tillis-Coons approach would have the best chance of surviving a court challenge.

"Nobody agrees, and there's nothing now for protection," Feinstein said, calling the Graham-Booker bill "the soundest, but clearly we need to know what we're doing."

At one point, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) summed up the dense legal questions facing the Mueller-protection bills.

“I’m not a lawyer, I’m a comedian," Franken quipped. "We didn’t discuss this in comedy school.”