Despite publicly saying that he has nothing to hide regarding the Russia investigation, President Trump reportedly tried to have Special Counsel Robert Mueller fired a month after he was hired. He has also gone to great lengths to discredit potential witnesses from the FBI and the Justice Department, as well as generally muddying the investigative waters. In yet another example of the president’s trying to run circles around everyone else, Trump has reportedly floated the possibility of having Jeff Sessions prosecute Mueller in order to delay the special counsel’s investigation.
According to NBC News, Trump mentioned his idea among those in his inner circle:
Trump is even talking to friends about the possibility of asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to consider prosecuting Mueller and his team.
“Here’s how it would work: ‘We’re sorry, Mr. Mueller, you won’t be able to run the federal grand jury today because he has to go testify to another federal grand jury,'” said one Trump adviser.
Earlier on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he didn’t think Mueller needed any sort of protection because he was “unaware of any effort, official effort, on the part of the White House to undermine the special counsel.” As for the president’s apparent desire to have Sessions prosecute Mueller, it is unclear precisely what charges would be filed against the former FBI director, should the administration ever actually go that far.