Trump says he didn’t fire Robert Mueller because ‘firing everybody’ didn’t work out for Nixon 

President Donald Trump said he didn’t fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller because he said it didn’t work out well for Richard Nixon.

‘I wasn’t going to fire him. Do you know why?’ Trump questioned during part of an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday morning. ‘Because I watched Richard Nixon go around firing everybody and that didn’t work out too well.’

Trump was referring to the former president who order his attorney general at the time, Elliot Richardson, to fire independent prosecutor Archibald Cox, who served during the Watergate scandal.

When Richardson refused and resigned, Nixon then ordered his deputy Attorney General Willian Ruchelshaus to fire Cox. He also refused and resigned.

Trump told ABC News in an interview that will air Sunday night that Article II gives him the right to ‘do whatever I want’

During his sworn testimony before the special council, former White House Council Don McGahn (pictured second from right) said he was under the impression Trump wanted Mueller fired. Trump said he got that idea because he talked about how conflicted Mueller was

Congress was in the midst of conducting impeachment proceedings against Nixon in the early 1970s related to the Watergate scandal escalation, and in the middle of his second term he resigned in the face of almost certain removal from office.

In a wide-range interview, which will air in its entirety Sunday evening, Trump told host George Steohanopoulos that he could have fired Mueller if he wanted to, but insisted he wouldn’t do that.  

Stephanopoulos asked why former White House Council Don McGahn would lie under oath about being instructed to fire Mueller.

‘Because he wanted to make himself look like a good lawyer,’ Trump speculated.

‘Or, he believed it because I would constantly tell anybody that would listen, including you, including the media, that Robert Mueller was conflicted,’ Trump continued. ‘Robert Mueller had a total conflict of interest.’

‘And had to go?’ Stephanopoulos pushed.

‘I didn’t say that,’ Trump defended, adding Article II of the Constitution would have given him the right to fire Mueller if he wanted.

Robert Mueller completed the Russia investigation in March and outlined 10 instances of potential obstruction of justice, including possible attempts by the president to get him fired

During the prosecution related to the Watergate scandal  Richard Nixon (pictured) order his attorney general at the time to fire independent prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refused and resigned, so Nixon ordered his deputy Attorney General Willian Ruchelshaus to fire Cox. He also refused and resigned

‘Look Article II – I would be allowed to fire Robert Mueller. Assuming I did all of the things, I said I want to fire him. Number one, I didn’t. He wasn’t fired. But more importantly, Article II allows me to do whatever I want. Article II would have allowed me to fire him,’ Trump said.

In his sworn testimony to Muller, McGahn said he was under the impression that Trump wanted him to direct Mueller’s firing.

‘I was never going to fire Mueller, I never suggesting firing Mueller,’ Trump said.

He also claimed he didn’t care what McGahn said because he could have been confused over Trump constantly complaining that Mueller had conflict of interest in the probe 

Mueller completed the probe in March and his 448-page report was released in mid-April. 

The report, which 10 per cent was blacked out, found that there was no evidence that Trump conspired with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 elections. It did, however, outline 10 ‘episodes’ of potential obstruction, including Trump attempting to get Mueller removed from the investigation.