Mnuchin says he doesn’t think Trump plans to fire Mueller

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday that he had no reason to believe President Trump was contemplating firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller. 

‘I don’t have any reason to think that the president is going to do that, but that’s obviously up to him,’ Mnuchin said on CNN’s State of the Union. 

On Friday, Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, told a home state radio station that she had heard the president was going to remove Mueller before Christmas. 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on CNN Sunday that he had no reason to believe President Trump planned to oust Special Counsel Robert Mueller from the Russia investigation before Christmas 

Could Special Counsel Robert Mueller's (pictured) days be numbered? Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hadn't heard any chatter about President Trump getting rid of Mueller

Could Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s (pictured) days be numbered? Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hadn’t heard any chatter about President Trump getting rid of Mueller

However, Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday she heard rumors that President Trump planned to fire Mueller on December 22 

However, Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday she heard rumors that President Trump planned to fire Mueller on December 22 

‘The rumor on the Hill when I left yesterday was that the president was going to make a significant speech at the end of next week,’ Speier said. ‘And on December 22, when we are out of D.C., he was going to fire Robert Mueller.’ 

On Sunday, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Mnuchin if he would be alarmed if the president let Mueller go.   

Mueller is the individual in charge of the executive branch’s Russia probe, put in that position by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after President Trump controversially fired FBI Director James Comey. 

‘I haven’t heard the president – I was with the – at dinner last night with the president and vice president, I haven’t heard anything about this, any firing,’ Mnuchin said. 

Mnuchin indicated, however, that he’d like to see the Russia probe done.  

‘But we have got to get past this investigation,’ the treasury secretary said. ‘It’s a giant distraction. Nobody has said that in any way this impacted the outcome of the election.’ 

Tapper asked Mnuchin to clarify.

‘But when you say you got to get past it, you think it should run its course?’ Tapper asked. 

Mnuchin answered, ‘I think it should be over quickly, since I think there is nothing there. It should be over quickly, and people want to focus on other things.’  

Democrats on the Hill are worried that Republicans are trying to sweep the various Russia investigations under the rug before the start of the new year. 

 Speier serves on the House Intelligence Committee, which is running one probe. 

The New York Times reported that the committee scheduled its final witnesses of the year to testify in New York, while lawmakers need to be in D.C. for important votes.  

‘We can read between the lines I think,’ Speier said. ‘I believe this president wants all of this shut down. He wants to shut down these investigations, and he wants to fire special counsel Mueller.’ 

The House Intelligence Committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, shared similar concerns. 

‘Republicans have scheduled no witnesses after next Friday and none in [2018]. We have dozens of outstanding witnesses on key aspects of our investigation that they refuse to contact and many document requests they continue to sit on,’ Schiff said on Twitter Friday. 



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